Start Again
by sleepywitchysamurai
Summary: [RICHONNE] Michonne has been alone for a long time, tired of fighting just for survival. She rescues two strangers from being chowed down by walkers, & they bring her to ASZ. What if the first time she meets Rick Grimes, he is emptying a bullet into someone's skull. "Do I know you",he questioned her, guardedly. He seemingly searched her face for anything that may have been familiar
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys, I know, I haven't finished PtF, I'm still writing that one. I do hope you enjoy Start Again.**

 **Chapter 1:** **Presentation matters**

Michonne felt like she had been walking for a long time without any rest, killing and trying that much harder to survive, more so in the past two weeks that she had to before. May be it was the fatigue that had had set in, sending alarm bells to her mind that she was getting weaker and weaker. She needed food and shelter.

It had been hot for days, the sun, relentless in its goal to drive her mad especially now that her supplies had finally run out about a mile ago. Even her locs seemed heavy and hot against the nape of her neck. The idea of giving up had been slithering within her mind for days now, _just lay here, on the side of the road and just, fade_ \- hissed a dark voice, that wasn't like her, giving up was not an option, not after all that she had been through.

It had been days since she had had a decent meal, she had been rationing the little she had left since the promised sanctuary at Terminus turned out to be a bust. The place had been destroyed by the time she had reached it, the colour of the smoke drifting into the sky told her as much but the need to be a hundred present certain had gnawed at her and pushed her until she had come upon the sign post.

 **NO SANCTUARY**

Thoughts of giving up had plagued her then, they were getting harder to fight but finding a place to rest or to call home was her main goal and she would not stop until she found it. There had to be a place like that in this godforsaken world. A place steeped in reality, she definitely did not want to relive what she had gone through in Woodbury.

She stopped for a second as she thought about going back to the barn that she had seen earlier but it didn't sound appealing at all. On a whim she cut through the dense forest on her left, taking care to move as fast and as stealthily as she could and avoid disturbing the things that dwelled within.

Long hours of walking had become so normal to her that she didn't even notice that any time had passed, taking brief moments to rest and drinking sips of the remaining water as she ventured deeper and deeper, into the woods. She emerged from the forest almost a half an hour later and was surprised when she came upon a fenced supermarket, four massive Del Arno Food trucks were parked at the delivery dock. She would have been cautiously pleased by the possibility of having somewhere to rest, recuperate and gain supplies except there was quite a disappointing number of walkers milling around.

There something odd about the behaviour of the undead that told her instinctively told her there were some poor suckers somewhere in that throng. Squinting, she made out a small black hatchback, however, could not see if there was anyone inside but with the way the walkers were pushing against it, there was someone in there.

She walked away.

It took her about ten minutes to make her way back to the supermarket, cursing herself for being stupid and contemplated just running herself through with the katana for even thinking about walking into a death trap. _Why was she even considering the idea of saving anyone who was stupid enough to get caught up in this chaos?_ This situation reminded her of Andrea, the first time they had met with, no weapon on her and completely surrounded by walkers.

They'd saved each other that day, although Andrea had died without ever knowing how much of an impact she had been, in her life. The hope she had given her, something she had needed, especially after Andre, after Mike. Thinking of them was still painful but the knowledge that they would have wanted her to help whoever was in there, was all the incentive she needed.

She'd probably die trying.

Despite knowing all this, she walked even closer to the fence contemplating how best to get in, rescue and get out. A Big Cat right about now would have been ideal, just for the sugar and energy boost it would have given her, instead, she grimaced as she took the last swig of her water and pretend it was a _V_.

Taking out her katana, she eyed the scene before her as critically as she could, she would need a distraction to draw away a large number of the walkers. For the first time- in what seemed like a life time- the ghost of a smile curled at her lips as a ridiculous idea formed in her mind. It would probably get her killed but she was already weakened from lack of food, therefore, she couldn't be blamed for any crazy plans she came up with.

Opening her mouth, she proceeded to let out a blood curdling scream and started jogging slowly away from the main entrance, running her sword against the fence to add to the ruckus. She prayed to whatever deity that was still out there that her plan would work. Glancing to her right, she grinned in disbelief as she saw that her plan was sort of working, some of the walkers were ambling their way towards her, trying to get at her through the fence. When they had left a large enough distance between them and the car, she ventured her way back to the main gates and made her way inside.

* * *

They'd made it out.

 _Thank. You. Sweet. Jesus!_ She was never doing that again, at least, not on an empty stomach with only her starved brain to depend on for intellectual input.

They stumbled out of the gates and she almost fell on her ass when she tripped on seemingly nothing but air. She bent at the waist trying to catch her breath, watching with some relief as one of the men she had rescued, immediately scrambled to close the gates.

A moment later, she was startled to see the shaggy haired guy point his cross bow in her direction, she could barely lift her own weapon in defence after fighting so many walkers in her weakened state.

 _Yeah Michonne,_ she grumbled silently, _that's what you get for helping a bunch of strangers._

Straightening, she watched in trepidation as the arrow was released and exhaled unevenly when it flew past her, imbedding itself into a walker that had been approaching her from behind. For a minute there, she had been cursing the memory of Andrea, thinking that she had also fallen into a trap worthy of the Governor. She shuddered at the thought.

"That was…thank you, thank you!" The other guy said to her effusively as he visibly tried to regulate his breathing.

She nodded cautiously in his direction but remained silent, observing them for any signs that they would attack her and hoping that she wouldn't regret playing Mother Theresa. Her hand tightened around the handle of the katana, ready to defend herself if things turned sour.

"Uh…I'm Aaron and this is Daryl". The friendly one or Aaron continued talking as he introduced himself and his silent friend.

Michonne eyed them in suspicion, wondering how these men had become trapped in the first place. She looked at the walkers on the other side of the fence, and then back at the men who were looking at her with interest, the smiley one seemed to be more trustworthy than the other guy who still hadn't spoken, so she focused her attention on Aaron as she spoke.

"Michonne"

She almost jumped when the silent and brooding guy, talked to her.

"Why?" he asked.

She knew what he was asking, _why she had risked her life to save them when she could have been killed herself._ She momentarily considered what answer to give them, there was no reason why she had to lie or tell the whole truth.

She looked directly at the one named Daryl, the one who had asked the question and said, "I know someone in my past who would have done the same…"

Aaron and Daryl shared a look that she couldn't decipher.

"Whoever set that trap, they are coming but I have good news-", began Aaron but corrected himself nervously or excitedly, she couldn't decide which. He pointed towards Daryl and himself. "We do, uh, we have a community not too far away from here, walls, electricity…

And the rest, as they say, was history- not really, because it had taken a little bit of convincing before she had gone anywhere with them.

She should have probably walked out of Alexandria considering the kind of welcome they had walked into when they eventually reached the safe zone as night fell. A courtyard full of people, a gunshot, two dead bodies lying on the ground, a crying woman cradling the head of one of the dead.

In the midst of it all, one man stood out above the rest, drenched in blood like something out of _True Blood_.

* * *

"Today wasn't a good day to bring her in…where did you say you found her again?"

"She found us, rescued us. In fact, if it hadn't for her, we probably wouldn't be here right now"

Michonne wondered how long she would stand at the entrance of the now (mostly) empty courtyard and pretend she couldn't hear them discussing her presence. She openly eyed the man whom Aaron and Daryl were talking to, she assumed he was the leader. Something twitched at his side catching her eye, a blonde haired woman stepped into her line of sight. She assumed again that may have been his significant other considering how close they were standing next to each other.

In that instant, as if the blond woman could tell that her mind had shifted to her- their eyes met from across the courtyard briefly. There was this peaceful and composed look on her face, like the bodies at her feet were a daily occurrence or didn't bother her at all.

Michonne watched with interest as the blonde gazed at the man at her side with something akin to adoration on her face. Objectively, she readily admitted to herself there was something animalistic and captivating about him, even more so with the blood on his face and everywhere, really. He was aesthetically, an attractive man, however, she was acutely aware that he was a man not to be crossed. Not that she needed any warning, considering…

Her heart, beat steadily against her ribcage as those icy blue eyes zeroed in on her with such intensity that she almost looked away but she held his gaze almost defiantly. He reminded her of the Governor and that did not bode well with her seeing as how that situation had turned out.

She braced herself not to move out of his path as he stalked his way over to where she was standing she couldn't help but feel like prey as his eyes remained fixated on her. Her fingers itched to take out her katana. It was a reasonable precaution to take, she had just witnessed him kill a man in cold blood and he still held the same weapon in his hand.

When he finally stood in front of her, he extended his other bloodied hand out to her.

She contemplated ignoring it and just walking out of whatever crazy she had unwittingly walked into. Clearly, Daryl and Aaron hadn't told her everything. But the idea of going back out there at that very moment sounded less appealing than getting a few days of rest and something to eat whilst she decided if this place was worth staying. And if this man turned out to be just like the Governor, well, she would handle him too.

She gripped his hand tightly as she shook it, introducing herself.

His head titled to the right as his gaze bore into her making her feel uncomfortable, she pulled her hand out of his hold, uneasily.

"Michonne", he said slowly, his voice deepening at the end.

She instantly didn't like the way he said her name, there was a familiarity in his tone that shouldn't have been there and she didn't like that. He didn't know her like that.

"I'm Rick. Rick Grimes"

Daryl and Rick? Michonne froze, feeling like an icy cold bucket of water had been dumped on her. She stared at the man before her in disbelief, she realised she had made a mistake by reacting outwardly to his name a second too late. Looking at him, she knew instantly that he hadn't missed her likely confusing response to his name. From the corner of her eye, she noticed his hand twitch. The same hand that still held the gun.

"Do I know you", he questioned her, guardedly. He seemingly searched her face for anything that may have been familiar.

 _I know you_ , she thought _, or at least, I have heard a lot of things about you, your wife over there and your former buddy and your son._ She swallowed with some difficulty and shook her head. This wasn't the same man Andrea had described- the kind, generous and fair guy, always willing to do his best for everyone and the group. That is why Andrea had forgiven him for leaving her to her fate back at the farm on that ill-fated day.

"No, I don't think so", she denied.

The hand stopped twitching and he smiled, if it was meant to show her that he was an amiable person, he failed quite miserably. His charming display of his perfect teeth only served to put her on edge. She gritted her teeth and smiled back at him, already making her mind to leave the following morning.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Just amazed at the response this story has received. I'm glad that so many of you are intrigued by this idea. Thank you for the reviews.

Thank you to the guests I couldn't respond to via PM: **animefreak03, ttgranger, Guests.**

 **Yari and Guestz:** Yep, Rick and Jessie haven't been intimate beyond a kiss. I will say Jessie will feature in the story, and at one point, you'll think its going in one direction but then it won't. I know that's not really helpful but you'll see soon enough. Rick was responding to Michonne's reaction at hearing his name, he was searching her face for anything that may have been familiar. You'll find out about Andrea's fate in this chapter. Michonne's backstory will be explored as the story progresses. The blond woman is Jessie, from Andrea's stories, she has already assumed that this is Lori.

 **Chapter 2: You be the prey**

Michonne stood off to the side, close to the wall of the courtyard but always within the vicinity of Rick Grimes and his people, as mandated by the former. The woman who had been crying earlier on as she sat on the ground cradling the head of one of the dead- left the courtyard after the bodies had been moved and after talking to Rick. Strangely enough, when the woman was walking away from him, Michonne observed him as he smiled. It wasn't sinister or anything, nor did it fill her with a sense of foreboding, he mostly appeared to be relieved.

Strange

He finally advanced towards her when he finished talking to his wife and some other people.

When he was standing before her, he gestured towards Aaron as he spoke. "He will show you where you will be sleeping tonight and give you some food and water. The leader will interview you tomorrow, to see if you will be a good fit".

That was different especially compared to the system that had been in Woodbury- your ability to fight and win battles determined whether you stayed or not, and in turn, if you lived or died. It bothered her a little bit when she noticed his eyes zeroing in, on the weapon strapped to her back, he then he looked her up and down. She glared at him when their eyes finally met after his perusal.

"Seems reasonable", she bit out, trying to keep her voice even.

He shrugged, his head cocked to the side as he watched her. "I just wanna ask you a couple of questions that we ask all newcomers."

Michonne didn't respond, so he pressed on, not deterred by her silence. "How many walkers have you killed?"

"A lot", she drawled.

"How many people have you killed?"

She blinked, the question threw her off kilter. "Why?"

His eyes narrowed at her. "I'm asking the questions", he said gruffly. "If you don't wanna answer, you can leave".

Michonne bristled, he knew that she couldn't leave, not at this time of night. "I have killed", she said instead.

"Why?" he pressed her for an answer.

"I had my reasons." He didn't seemed all that pleased with her responses, she couldn't fathom why he'd assumed she would openly give him the answers that he wanted.

* * *

Michonne woke up suddenly, still feeling groggy and lethargic but forced her eyes to stay open as she frantically scanned her surroundings. With a sinking feeling, she knew instantly that she had overslept, the tiny room she had been given was dimly lit by the sun's rays that filtered into it. It was so tempting to sink back into the comfort of her bed, even if it was just a single mattress, a pillow and a blanket. They were certainly comforts that had not been available to her since leaving Woodbury. She scowled at the sunlight that seemed to mock her decision to leave Alexandria but how could she even consider the idea of staying here.

Basically, the problem was Rick and after last night, she didn't feel like being here to relive another Woodbury. He had an air of danger about him, a sense of ruthlessness that he exuded. This wasn't the same man that Andrea had talked about. She tried to imagine how things would have panned out if she had revealed that she knew of him, that she had been friends with Andrea. The first obvious question he would ask, would be about Andrea's whereabouts. Now, that required her to explain how they had met, Woodbury, the Governor and her subsequent death. It would make everything easy if she could explain all of it to him but she couldn't trust that he would believe her.

The coincidence was just ludicrous.

And she didn't trust easily either.

With the Governor, she had been suspicious from the moment they had met him, Andrea on the other hand, hadn't seemed to notice that behind the charm lay a vicious, manipulative and cold-hearted, man. Michonne's suspicions had been confirmed when he tried to blackmail her, to get them to stay- all under the guise of providing them with food, shelter and a sense of belonging. In reality, he wanted her to agree to be part of his freaking army, to fight and protect him, and his little haven.

The kicker was, he would not have saved Andrea (who had been acutely unwell at the time) if she hadn't agreed to pick up her katana and be enslaved to the whims of a madman. The most disgusting and frightening thing was when she had come, face to face with what her best friend's fate could have been, if she hadn't agreed. If you were weak or sick, if you couldn't fight or couldn't be taught how to- the Governor had you killed or used for target practice and entertainment.

With that in mind, she got out of bed reluctantly and straightened her clothes, gathered her things, a task that took no more than two minutes to accomplish. She would need supplies which she hoped these people would be kind enough to give her, it was better than stealing from them.

Michonne was hardly surprised to find the back view of a brown haired woman, standing guard at the top of the stairs as she exited the room. Of course, he would put a guard on her.

At the sound of the door opening and closing, the woman turned to face her. Her lips curled into a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, she looked tired, like she hadn't slept in days. She didn't say anything until Michonne reached the top of the stairs and they were facing each other.

"Hi, I'm Maggie", she greeted as she offered her hand. "I didn't want to wake you up, since Deanna isn't up to seeing anyone today, after yesterday's tragedy. She said she would interview you tomorrow so that you don't have your steps shadowed at each and every moment."

Michonne stared at her, restraining her reaction to meeting yet another person from Andrea's past. At this point, it may have been safe to assume that she would meet more of them and that was why she had to leave.

She shook the hand that still hung mid-air between them. "Who's Deanna?"

The woman known as Maggie gave her an odd look. "She's the leader of this safe zone, she interviews anyone new to the community, to see if they are a good fit. Rick said you guys talked…" She left the sentence hanging, awkwardly.

Michonne couldn't contain the scoff that erupted from her lips, _more like he tried to interrogate me._ "I thought, Rick was the leader?" He behaved like he was the leader, since he had threatened to kick her out.

Maggie shook her head and indicated with her hand that they should start walking.

Michonne walked alongside her, adjusting the strap of her katana as she took in the environment and infrastructure. In daylight, Alexandria looked more welcoming- the houses and manicured lawns appeared to be out of some real estate brochure. There were not many people about but she thought she spotted somebody familiar up the road as they turned a corner. The person in question looked a lot like Aaron judging by the peppy nature of the wave so she kept on walking. They passed by the courtyard which looked quite different in broad daylight, less like a murder scene.

She realized that she had been trailing behind Maggie who didn't seem to notice that she was crap at giving tours if that had been her intention. She caught up with her easily enough.

"So Rick is not the leader?" she asked again, her curiosity overwhelming her intuition, to leave well enough alone. It didn't matter whether he was the leader or not, she didn't think he needed the actual title to be running things in this place.

"No". Maggie turned to her, her eyebrows raised. "What makes you say that, did he say that?"

Thinking back on their _conversation_ from last night, he'd actually said that the leader, would see her today.

"No", she answered. "No, he didn't".

Maggie nodded then brought her hand up to cover what looked like a yawn. "Sorry, I just haven't gotten enough sleep, it was a long night." When Michonne just shrugged, she frowned to herself, not knowing whether to be offended or to wonder at her indifference. She decided to focus on getting the tour done so that she could rest before the meeting with her family. "I'm just going to show you how to get to Deanna's house for tomorrow, how to get to the gates if you need to leave for the day or something, and I'll give you some food and toiletries you can use today. You'll get a proper tour or not, after Deanna's decision tomorrow."

"Actually, I'm not staying", she finally blurted out.

Maggie stopped walking and Michonne followed suit having anticipated some sort of reaction, ironically enough, they had been heading toward the main gates. It was then that she noticed another figure headed in their direction, there was no mistaking who it was. In his arms, strangely enough, he seemed to be holding a blond haired baby. A new development, she guessed. With the sun shining down on him at that angle, he looked so different from the man she had met yesterday. He was even smiling as he approached them, and it almost looked sincere. He looked much more relaxed and presentable in a pair of clean jeans and a brown, tight shirt.

"What?"

"Huh?" she responded distractedly, looking over Maggie's shoulder in panic.

"Why are you not staying?" she restated.

To her displeasure, he reached them at that precise moment in their conversation, his eyes widened as he gazed at her questioningly. From the corner of her eye, she could see his reaction but she kept her gaze firmly on Maggie.

"I just needed some place to stay for the night", she lied. "I was going leave earlier but I also need supplies, hence the late start".

"Daryl didn't mention any of this last night", Rick pointed out without so much as a greeting.

"Well, I didn't think there was already an assumption that I would be staying", she retorted.

"Ah, I see". He appeared amused, he turned to Maggie who was looking at both of them interestedly. "Thank you for today, you can go and rest, Glenn is at the house already". He kissed the baby's forehead and passed her to Maggie.

Yet another name she recognised.

Maggie welcomed the baby into her arms with the first genuine smile Michonne had seen since meeting her a few minutes ago. Before leaving, Maggie said to her; "I hope you decide to stay, its better being in here than out there", then walked away.

Michonne looked at her retreating back in trepidation.

"I think something changed your mind, something scared you". Rick picked up from where they had left off. His eyes examined her face. "Is it what you walked in on, last night, are you scared of me", he mocked. He highly doubted that was the case, he looked at the weapon strapped to her back as he recalled Daryl and Aaron's account of their rescue.

Not in the way he was implying- he was trying to provoke her but she wouldn't let him, she folded her hands against her chest defensively.

"Should I be", she countered, darkly.

Rick began circling her, a grin on his face, she raised an eyebrow at him when he finally came face to face with her again.

"I don't want you to be", he said softly. "My family and I, we arrived here about two weeks ago and in that space of time, a boy in my group is dead, another girl is in a coma because the people here are cowards", he said bitingly, his blue eyes flashing with anger, "they are living in some sort of fairy tale".

He looked around him and at the people that were going about their daily activities, some of them were looking at them. He touched her arm and nudged her to walk with him so that they could maintain a semblance of privacy.

Michonne was startled into moving by his touch, she looked at where his fingers, had touched her. She could still feel their warmth and it felt strange, after such a long time, to have physical contact from another person. It was distracting, she realized, they were now walking alongside the wall and he had been talking the whole time. She tuned in to his spiel, knowing what he was trying to do.

"…people here, have been sheltered from what's out there since the beginning. They don't know how to fight, they don't even believe it's necessary for them to learn how to defend themselves. To defend this place". He took a deep breath in and then looked at her. "There's something about you, I get the sense that you've been out there for a long time, just like I and my people have. I'll be honest with you, what you walked in on yesterday, you may never understand but this place, these people, need someone like you. Someone who knows what it's like out there, someone who has the power and strength of a fighter and the will of a survivor. You can make this place can be your home too."

Michonne was silent as she gazed at the houses on her right, she could stay here, she could start all over again but it felt stupid to let this man's words carry so much weight, to sway her decision.

"I knew a man once, who wanted the same thing from me, he wanted to use my survival skills for his own benefit and he didn't care if I did it willingly or not".

Rick touched her arm again and was surprised when she flinched, pulling her hand away from him. He didn't comment on it but filed it away in his head. They had stopped walking and were now standing under the overhanging branches of a tree. He tried to gauge the expression on her face but she kept her face turned away from him.

"I'd rather you do it willingly", he stated.

"Hm." She looked at him then, frowning, as she pondered over the possibility that she may have misjudged him. He seemed to actually care not only his safety, but also, for everyone else. There was something about him that seemed genuine and honest, it was difficult to reconcile him to the man she had seen last night. "Before I make my decision, I want your answers to the three questions you asked me, yesterday".

"You want me to be honest with you, when you were not", he accused, disbelievingly.

"Yes"

His eyes narrowed, his gaze piercing, then his expression cleared as he opened his mouth to answer. "I couldn't tell you the number of walkers I've killed, even I don't know. And people, seventeen at least. All to defend and protect my family".

Michonne nodded, it said something about him, that he kept count, she also did the same thing. "Does that include the two men in the courtyard?" she probed. When Rick didn't answer, she continued. "I'll stay for now, until tomorrow that is, when I see Deanna".

"I'm sure you will stay", he said confidently. "I'll show you a bit more of Alexandria".

And that's what he did, the highlight of the tour was when he showed her the house that would be hers. She had never owned a house before the world had gone to shit. Eventually she would have gotten a house just to have a bigger yard and playground for Andre. A yard, with a swing and maybe, goal posts for football.

* * *

The following morning, after spending no less than five minutes talking to Deanna whose eyes were wet and red, she was making her way out of the house. She felt confused and angry.

 _I'm not the leader anymore, Michonne, I stepped down last night the announcement just hasn't been made yet_. This was all said before she could even sit down. _Rick Grimes is the man you need to see, he is now the leader of Alexandria._

Rick had already been the leader when he had approached her and Maggie yesterday.

She had unknowingly talked to the leader of Alexandria as he somehow convinced her to stay.

He'd lied to her.

She was still standing on Deanna's porch when she noticed that someone was waving at her from across the street. She shielded her eyes from the bright sun that was blurring her vision and with a little bit of shade, the figure became clearer. It was Rick Grimes and he was waving at her from across the street, a smirk on his face.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Thank you for the reviews and the support for this story is just so wonderful. Chapter 4 is not too far away. I hope you enjoy.

 **Chapter 3:** **Fitting in**

Three scenarios played out in her mind as she stood on Deanna's doorstep, glaring across the street at Rick. He'd stopped waving but the annoying smirk remained plastered on his face. It was so tempting to walk up to him and punch the smug expression off of his face, just to give him a little taste of how she was feeling. She felt incredibly stupid and unobservant, but really, how could she have known. However, resorting to violence fell under scenario número uno and she quickly discarded the reckless idea, however satisfying it might have been in the short term.

The second scenario was less violent but no less confrontational, the objective was to question him as to why he had felt the need to mislead her. Why couldn't he just have introduced himself as the leader, what was the big deal? Why had it been so important for him to pretend with her? These were valid questions, weren't they, she wasn't overreacting. It was just common courtesy for him (even in this post-apocalyptic world), to have been transparent with her. No doubt he had known she would find out the truth after seeing Deanna today. The idea that he was playing some sort of game with her, made her angry.

Rick Grimes was frighteningly much more perceptive than she had initially realised, he barely knew her and yet, had guessed were her vulnerabilities lay. He'd played her yesterday, known the right buttons to push and gave her what she yearned for in the form of this community. After Woodbury and the unfulfilled promise of Terminus, she had lost all hope. Each day that went by, she'd felt like she was losing bits and pieces of herself. Being here in Alexandria meant a fresh start, it could not erase all that she had gone through but she had a chance to _start again_.

It did not escape her notice that out of all her options, she hadn't even considered just leaving. Rick wasn't important, her future and sanity relied on making this work and she wasn't going to waste what was left of it. She would deal with whatever bullshit he tried to throw her way. Upon reaching that conclusion, she carried out the action plan of the third scenario. She walked down the steps all the while maintaining eye contact with him. When she reached the bottom she veered to the right, giving him a dirty look before she stomped off.

A few minutes later, she came to a stop in front of her brand new home, she allowed herself a moment of levity as she smiled. Wiping away the tears that ran down her cheeks, she walked up the stairs, her fingers played along the porch railing reverently. Her fingers gripped the door knob and she was momentarily frozen by the magnitude of how everything that had happened had led to this. She closed her eyes and took a steadying breath, laughing shakily. _I'm being stupid_.

* * *

The past three days had been a learning process of getting acclimated to her new environment and being around people, again.

Rick had put her in charge of close combat training with different types of blades and taking small groups outside the walls as a practical component to their training. The age groups ranged right from adolescents to adults. The children were more excited and eager to learn, however, most of the adults were suspicious of her and were being rather _difficult_ and possibly, juvenile.

It was always the case that her classes were supervised by one of Rick's people, for the first two she had Daryl. He was a friendly grump and a lot more communicative than what their first meeting had indicated. Yesterday, however, Daryl was replaced by an older lady by the name of Carol. Unlike Daryl who had gotten involved and helped her with the demonstrations and correcting techniques, Carol had just watched her, unwaveringly, a calculating look in her eyes. It made her wary of what was hidden behind the façade of the helplessly, weak woman.

Just before sunset, she helped with clean-up outside the walls and that took up at least an hour or two, so that by the time she got to her house; she had a bath, cooked herself something to eat, and either sat on the couch with something to read, or just laid in bed staring at the ceiling.

The silence in the house was deafening. No one visited and she didn't venture out to visit anyone either, her pride didn't allow her to _beg_ for company. Ironically, the only people she even interacted with -other than Aaron- were Rick and his people and she couldn't exactly befriend them, the risk of slipping up was too great.

Before the world had gone to crap, she had had a group of friends that she was close to and interacted with, that was as far as her social circle extended and that had been enough for her. But since the apocalypse, she had lost everything and after Andrea, she had been out there, alone, for a very long time. The only things she had really yearned for were shelter and food and somewhere to call home.

Part of her understood why nobody had visited or why they were reluctant to talk and welcome her into their community. Their lack of trust in strangers could be blamed solely on Rick and his people. It hadn't been all that difficult to find out why the town was divided between the two groups. She heard the rumours in passing, of what had happened here since Rick's group had rolled into town. She wasn't one to listen to gossip but she couldn't help but feel curious.

The story of Rick being involved with a married woman- Jessie, the blonde woman whom she had initially thought was Rick's wife- had both intrigued and disgusted her. The disgust had set in when she learnt that the man Rick had executed the first day she had met him, had been Jessie's husband. Some of the residents believed he'd done it to be with her and the others thought that he wanted to overthrow Deanna's rule. It didn't make any sense to her but if all of this was true, Rick had certainly achieved his endgame, on both accounts.

Now that he was in charge, the people in the community grumbled and were resistant to the changes he was making. Personally, she though the mandatory training and additional precautions were a good idea.

Their discontent was further incensed by the fact that their new leader had placed his own people in positions of power. It didn't help her case either, she'd been here no more than a week, and she was already in some sort of leading role.

Oh well, she didn't give a shit what these people thought of her, if this was how she was paying for her livelihood, then so be it.

* * *

On the evening of her fourth day in Alexandria, she was at home curled up under a blanket on her couch in the lounge room (after eating dinner), trying to relax. Armed with a novel that she had found yesterday during her exploration of the house in one of the unoccupied bedrooms. Novels weren't really her thing but she hoped it would serve as a distraction from the fact that she was alone in this huge house.

She was half way into a crime novel when she was startled by a knock on the door that caused her to almost drop the book. Instead, she put it down on the coffee table and got up hesitantly, wondering who the hell was visiting her. When she looked through the peephole, she was genuinely surprised to see Rick standing there, she was tempted to ignore him. They had barely interacted with each other- something she was grateful for, and that her plan to stay under the radar was going swimmingly well.

Opening the door, she leaned against it blocking the way into her house, she had no intention of letting him in.

"Good evening Michonne, can I come in", he asked, smiling at her.

Michonne was tempted to ask why, which she did. A muscle twitched in his jaw, and the friendly attitude and charm melted away instantly. "Since you are new here, I may start to think you are hiding something in there. I may even start to formulate a theory that you finding Aaron and Daryl wasn't a coincidence at all. And because I'm the leader here, I can still kick you out", he threatened, darkly. He cocked his head to the side, almost as if he was sizing her up. "Do any of those reasons work for you or do we have a problem."

Michonne scowled at him. "No Rick, we don't have a problem". _This is what happens when I put out to the universe that I'm feeling lonely_. The universe thought she deserved a sarcastic and egotistical leader, forcing his way into her home. She stood aside to let him through.

Once again, she puzzled over the many sides of this man that refused categorization. Yesterday in particular had been an eye opener for her, she had seen coming from her shift outside the wall when she spotted him coming from the direction of the playground. He'd been walking with a teenaged boy and the little blonde girl. She now knew that they were his children- Carl and Judith- and they had been laughing as they talked to the little girl in Rick's arms. Involuntarily, she had teared up at the beautiful scene of the family unit and quickly averted her gaze when Rick had looked her way. She'd pretended that she hadn't seen them.

Shaking her head to dispel the memory and the emotions it invoked, she closed the door slowly. When she turned around, Rick was standing just inside the entryway, seemingly waiting for her to walk in first. This dude was weird, where had this paranoia been when he been trying to convince her- a stranger- to stay.

She stepped around him and into the living room, going back to her couch where she sat down with her legs crossed at the knees, and her hands resting on her lap. Rick sat on the couch across the room with the coffee table situated between them. His eyes noticeably explored the room, taking note of the novel on the table, the blanket beside her and generally, the lack of any life in the house.

Michonne pursed her lips at the scrutiny, and at how suddenly the atmosphere in the room felt different from what it had been earlier, changed just by his presence alone. It made her uncomfortable. "You realise that you are the one who invited me to stay, right. You said you needed me here and you offered me a home to stay", she pointed out, "you need to stop doing that", she demanded, forcefully.

Rick's blue gaze narrowed at her tone. "Doing what?"

"Because I'm the leader here I can still kick you out, shtick", she mimicked, not in the least bit amused. "I told you, I knew a leader like that and he was a murderous, conniving asshole". Although it needed to be said, she didn't want him to see this as an invitation to ask her all sorts of details about her life. A silence settled between them, she watched him warily as he stared at the floor.

"I suppose, I deserve that", Rick admitted, sheepishly, by way of apology.

She nodded in acceptance although she mocked him, inwardly. _You can do better than that,_ ' _I apologise', are the words you are looking for, Rick_. However it didn't take a genius to figure out that was as much of an apology, she would be getting.

"Why are you here, Rick?"

She was startled when he got up suddenly and started walking around the room, touching this and that, until he finally came to rest near the empty fire place, his eyes on the katana. "Who are you, Michonne? I've asked around to see how you are settling in but no one here seems to know anything about you, why is that?" Rick turned around and leaned against the wall, he watched her with an inscrutable look on his face

Her fingers flexed from where her nails had sunk into the fabric of the armrest at his sudden movement. She didn't know how to respond to his question and so she didn't say anything.

"Normally, the people here would throw you a welcoming party and ask you asinine things like what kind of pasta you like", he mocked. "Instead, you are invited to a family dinner tomorrow night, at my house".

Stunned by the unexpected turn of events, she blinked at him as she tried to rein in her initial reaction to, strongly decline the invitation. Ultimately, she couldn't say no, there was no earthly reason why she could not attend this dinner that had been issued by the leader of the community, she was a resident of.

She lowered her eyes. "I'll be there", she muttered.

"Good. Glad that's sorted. So, how have your training sessions been going?"

She glanced up at him shrewdly. "I would have thought that my supervisors reported back to you", she remarked.

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Something in her found a perverse pleasure in seeing him so annoyed. "The kids are willing to learn, and so are few of the adults but most of them are not happy taking orders from me. They are wondering why a virtual stranger was able to walk in, out of the blue and given a position by their new leader".

"They said this, to you?" Rick questioned in a doubtful tone, a lone eyebrow raised in her direction.

"Not in as many words", she conceded. "But it's the feeling I got".

"Ah". He rolled his eyes and pushed himself away from where he had been standing. "You can't win with these people." He spoke with contempt in his voice, he rubbed at his jaw, his fingers sinking into the growing but manageable beard. "What did they think being ready meant?" he grumbled to himself.

Michonne didn't know what to say to that but made to stand up when he approached, hoping that the exhausting and unexpected visit was over.

Thankfully, he seemed to have satiated his curiosity and said his goodbyes, reminding her of the dinner the following day. It wasn't likely that she would forget.

She was more than relieved when she finally closed the door after his departure. Leaning against it, she pressed the palm of her hand against her abdomen almost as if she was physically trying to supress the nervous energy brewing within her at the prospect of the interrogation that was in store for her, tomorrow. However, she couldn't help but also look forward to it…to having some company.

* * *

The following day, she had just finished her duties outside the wall and was walking slowly towards home, in an effort to delay the moment she had to get ready for dinner at the Grimes, residence. She was so deep in thought (imagining all the different ways things could go wrong) that she almost collided into someone. Luckily, said person was more cognizant of their surroundings than she was, long fingers carefully curled around the exposed skin of her shoulder. Her stomach clenched into knots when she followed the hand with her eyes, from where it touched her skin and up to its owner. Rick.

And walking with him was, Jessie.

Considering the things she'd heard, Michonne found it extremely weird to see them together, her eyes darted to the blonde woman trying to find a hint of anger, anything really, for the man standing next to her. She found Jessie's gaze trained on her, or more precisely on the hand that was still resting on her shoulder.

Her face began to feel warm as she looked back at Rick, she gently moved out from under his touch. "Thanks", she croaked.

Rick nodded as he gazed intently at her. "See you soon?"

Michonne fidgeted as the anxiety began to set in, overwhelming the smidgeon amount of anticipation, she had felt yesterday. She gripped the brown leather strap of the scabbard holding her katana, tightly. "Yeah".

In the awkward silence that followed, his searching gaze ran over her face again.

"Um, what's going on?"

Michonne jerked away from his blue gaze and was disturbed to find out that she had completely forgotten the woman's presence. Jessie looked bemusedly between the two of them, her eyes finally resting on Rick for an explanation.

That was odd, if these two were together as the rumours implied, then why didn't Jessie know about tonight's dinner? Not willing to subject herself to their drama, she beat a hasty retreat, not missing the frown Rick directed at her when she said her goodbyes and left them alone.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Most of you have requested to know what Rick's thoughts and in chapter 5, I'll be working on that. I have been planning from the beginning to tell the story of what happened at the prison and their journey to Alexandria. So rest assured my pallies, we shall be delving into his mind, soon and very soon. Some of the other questions have been answered in this chappie.

And thank you to: **kayoswald, Siancore** (although I'm not sure if it's you or another guest that also by that name), **ttgranger, sfstewart, kdthle23, simple1234, dancer4life5, birdnmouse, zeejack, severelybabykryptonite, & Guestz. **

* * *

**Chapter 4: Connected**

Michonne backtracked to the oval shaped mirror in her room and gazed at her reflection in wonder. It had been such a long time since she had been dressed in anything, other than a pair of jeans, a tank-top and a jacket. The strapless and white, knee-length dress clung to her body so tightly, and flared at the bottom, showing off her legs. Her hair was down for the event, the locs brushed her shoulders and down her back. She wondered if it was it too much.

Rick hadn't really mentioned a dress code but he'd also implied that originally, she would have been attending an actual party. It was too late to change anyway and she had delayed long enough as it was- the thought of Rick showing up at her doorstep was enough to get her moving. She slipped on her trusted boots, grabbed her katana and made her way down the stairs and out of the house.

Moments later, she stood nervously in front of the door to the Grimes family residence, she was startled out of her staring contest with the door, by the booming voice that came from behind her. She swiveled on the heel of her boot and was met with the sight of Abraham wearing a dark polo shirt and jeans. Walking up the steps with him was his girlfriend, Rosita, whom she was relieved to see also wore a (little black) dress.

"You know, in such cases, knocking usually helps", he joked.

Michonne eyed the tall, flaming man before her curiously, her lips twitched in an upward motion when Rosita elbowed him in his abdomen, causing him to grunt in pain.

"What the fuck, Rosita, who knew after that trial run you'd turn into such a dominatrix". He laughed as he wisely avoided the subsequent punch aimed at his genitalia. "Not in front of the Samurai Queen, babe."

Inwardly, she was thoroughly amused by the display and could not help but admire the connection they clearly shared. It had been a long time since she had something like that with anyone, she felt her mood dip as her thoughts wandered to Mike but realized it was rabbit-hole she didn't want to fall into. She shook herself out of her reverie when Abraham walked past her and knocked heavily on the door.

That's when it hit her, she looked at both of them again and back at the door. She had clearly made the wrong assumptions about what tonight was about. The palms of her hands felt clammy, she held on tightly to her weapon with one hand and rubbed the other, against her dress. Going from mainly communicating with Rick, to talking to his whole _family_ as he had clearly stated the night before, hadn't factored into her pep talk.

They stood just behind Abraham, Michonne glanced at Rosita again and was not deterred by the fact that she was already looking at her. This time, she smiled at her in greeting, figuring, she had at least thirty minutes to an hour with these people, therefore, it was best they started off on the right foot. The door was opened at that very moment, light streamed from the opening bathing the three of them in its warmth.

Carl stood at the door, opening it wider when he saw them, a small grin on his face that faded when his eyes landed on her.

Michonne was the last to enter the house, taking in Carl's wide eyes that were trained on the katana in her hand. It now felt awkward in her hand, so she slung it over her shoulder and stuck her hand out in greeting. His hand was small but firm in hers as he pumped it hand up down, his chest puffed out.

She couldn't help but smile at that, searching for something to say, she introduced herself even though she knew that he knew, who she was.

"Hi Carl, my name is Michonne", she said, feeling a little bit silly.

"I know." He looked at her with an odd expression on his face as he closed the door and led her past the living room and into the dining area, opposite the kitchen. The setup looked quite similar to that of her own house. They stopped at the large table that was covered with a beige linen tablecloth. She could hear people talking in the kitchen, greeting Abraham and Rosita, whom had walked in before her, not having spotted her yet. Being in here, even for a moment before everyone started trickling in, gave her a chance to steel her nerves and reorder her scattered thoughts.

"My dad has told me a lot about you", Carl revealed quietly, he was still standing next to her with his back to the kitchen. He turned his head seemingly searching for someone.

Stunned by that revelation, Michonne, followed his gaze and was taken aback when she found a number of eyes trained on her, a scuffle in the back caught her eye. Daryl appeared to be making fun of Rick, judging by the smirk on his face as he tugged on his tie and chuckling when he was punched in the shoulder. He must have said something to Rick because she found a pair of ocean blue eyes on her not a moment later. She was amused when she observed his cheeks reddening and he promptly tugged on the already loosened tie, discarding it somewhere on the kitchen floor.

Rick pushed past his people, his eyes remained fixated on her, his cheeks back to their normal color.

"Hi Michonne, thanks for coming", Rick said, a knowing grin on his face when she frowned at him.

 _Like he had given her a choice._

* * *

 _So far so good,_ she thought, they had asked her questions, ones she had been able to answer without completely evading the existence of Andrea. They knew enough that she had been travelling with a friend, her reticence to talk about her was understood by all. They had all lost someone.

Most of them were openly friendly towards her except Sasha (who sat on her right), seemingly caught up in her own little world and Carol (who sat opposite her), intensely questioning everything that she said, pushing her to reveal more. Carl sat next to his father, he hadn't really spoken to her again and Michonne avoided glancing in his direction due to Judith's presence, in the high chair next to him.

Sure, she had seen Judith a number of times over the past few days, even saw her up close once but most of the time, it had been from a distance. It had been easy to ignore her presence and block her mind from what she represented. Judith was gorgeous and absolutely adorable, just like Andre had been. Although she had grieved him, Judith served as a reminder of how her life could have turned out if Mike hadn't been so selfish. And a cowered. _Rabbit hole, rabbit hole_ , she reminded herself, she needed to focus on the present no matter how difficult it was.

Today the green monster was certainly in form, rearing its ugly head within her as she witnessed the little intimate moments and listened to their inside jokes. She couldn't help but like this strange group that made up Rick's family. They were all so different and yet, so similar in the most important aspects of their lives. It was clear to see the love and commitment shared between these people, their bond almost tangible. She had been alone for so long and to be suddenly surrounded by other people, it was surreal, especially when it felt like she knew some of them through Andrea.

Throughout dinner, she felt herself relaxing and letting go of the hold she had on her emotions, admittedly the wine helped a little bit. As she emptied her wine glass, her eyes connected across the table with Rick's own, it was strange how everything seemed to fade away the longer she looked at him. It was on the tip of her tongue to reveal everything, especially with Rick looking at her like that but she realised the foolishness of that endeavour. She tore her eyes away from him and placed the wine glass back on the table, deciding that it was best to leave before her emotions overwhelmed her.

For the most part, this had turned out better than she had expected and that was messing with her mind, making her think of all of her losses. Had they pulled an interrogation on her, worthy of _Jethro Gibbs_ , she might have dealt with that better. She was certainly better equipped in dealing with conflict and hardship. _How messed up was that!_

Michonne cleared her throat, and pushed her chair back, the sound it made against the hardwood floor, alerting them to her movements.

"Um…thank you for inviting me." She looked around the table at the faces that were turned to her. She stood up and retrieved her weapon from where it was hanging on the back of her chair. "I'll see you all, tomorrow", she nodded at them.

The urge to run out of the room pulled at her but she restrained herself from breaking out into a run, she just needed to get into her own breathing space.

The moon provided sufficient lighting and she was fortunate that it was a warm night, otherwise she would have been freezing in her form, hugging dress. She made it as far as the bottom step outside of the Grimes family residence, when the door opened behind her. She turned around in time to see Rick closing the door as he stepped outside and came to stand at the top of the set of steps.

"They liked you", he commented, "we haven't had the best of luck with meeting new people".

Michonne's lips twisted. "I don't think everyone felt that way, but I liked them too", she quipped.

Rick looked at her with a raised eyebrow as he walked down the steps slowly and stood before her. "What do you mean?" He probed.

"It doesn't matter." She was not really interested in arguing with him, again. At the insistent look on his face, she sighed. "Look, Carol wasn't exactly subtle with all those questions she was asking..."

"She's very protective of us and she has been through a lot", he said with a faraway look in his eyes.

She stared at him incredulously. "We've all been through a lot, Rick. She doesn't have a monopoly on pain and I'm not discounting any trauma she may have been through but I'm not badgering her about it, either".

"I know that and that wasn't an excuse", he said softly, touching her bare arm briefly. "I actually came out here, to declare a truce", he chuckled dryly, his hand falling at his side.

Michonne was not amused, she turned away from him looking into the dark. "I haven't been fighting you and I'm not the one that's been playing games", she pointed out, glancing at him. "Goodnight, Rick".

And with that, she walked away but she couldn't help glancing back at him when she was a few houses away. God, he was still standing there, watching her. In her distraction, she almost jumped when a familiar, feminine voice called out to her.

"Hey Michonne, goodnight".

It was Jessie. She got up from the swing of her porch where she must have been sitting and walked into her house without another word.

Michonne frowned at the door of Jessie's house, _like that isn't creepy or anything,_ she thought with a grimace.

* * *

It was a powerful thing- for the first time in a long time she didn't feel alone, and that made her happy.

Maggie and Sasha had been at her door that morning, the latter still caught up in some internal battle but certainly more brighter and reactive in her affect. They'd walked with her to her first class of the day, conversation was certainly stilted and awkward at first. Other than having the effects of the apocalypse in common, what else could they talk about? However, they made small talk and made plans to meet up later at Michonne's house after completing their duties.

As Maggie and Sasha were saying their farewells, she noticed the evil and disgruntled looks being sent their way by the same group of troublemakers that refused, to be trained. If she hadn't already noticed the divide in Alexandria between Rick and his family, and the Alexandrians, today was a stark reminder of that division.

She turned away from the watchful eyes of the class, rolling her eyes as she did so, her good mood vanishing just as quickly. She strode over to the makeshift table where they were keeping their weapons and picked up one of the blades, thinking it best to go over the techniques again.

Daryl was late.

They were situated in an empty field, not too close to the wall but not far away from the last block of houses, deep into the community. Stepping away from the table and past the group, she walked up to where the gravel began and squinted down the road, in search of her supervisor. She had almost given up when Rick seemingly materialized out of nowhere. As he draw closer, he gestured to her with a crook of his finger to meet him halfway. Away from the group. She instructed the class to do some of the exercises, she'd taught them the day before.

He was wearing jeans, his gun belt in place, and he also wore a t-shirt that stretched over his chest and the sleeves, over his biceps. He looked different from his long-sleeved shirt and jeans attire from last night. At the back of her mind, she couldn't help but think, she preferred this look.

As she approached him, she looked over his shoulder and then back at him. "Is something wrong?" she asked, frowning. "Where is Daryl?"

Rick cocked his head to the side, a curious expression on his face. "He went out on another recruiting mission with Aaron", he explained. "I'll be helping you out today". He looked at the group behind her and then directly into her eyes. "You said, you were having some _issues_ _..._ "

Michonne read between the lines, essentially, he couldn't afford having anyone jeopardize what he was trying to do here. His dedication to protecting this community and its inhabitants was what made him so different from the Governor. Despite his other unlikeable qualities, and the other things she'd heard about him, she couldn't fault him for trying to make this place, safe.

"If what you said is true", he continued, "then it's something we need to deal with before it's too late".

"How", she said slowly, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Rick shrugged. "I haven't decided". Michonne draw away from him when he unexpectedly pulled out his machete, testing the weight of the blade by bouncing it on the palm of his hand by its red handle. "There was another reason why I came here today…last night…" he began nonchalantly, his eyes focused on the weapon in his hand.

She froze, recalling her parting words with little difficulty. "I'd rather not argue right-"

"Why are you always so combative?" Rick interjected through gritted teeth, his eyes flashing.

Michonne's eyes widened in disbelief and she unconsciously took a step closer to him. "Me? Are you shitting me right now?" her hands gesticulating wildly.

"Fuck", he exclaimed loudly. "Michonne, all I'm trying to say is, we all on edge these days, I'm not the same person I used to be when all of this started". She had to bite her tongue when she almost agreed with him; _that was close_ , she looked away from him in case he read the relief in her eyes. He held his hand out to her. "I'm willing to call a truce on whatever war we have going on here, and maybe, we can try to work together towards a common goal?"

Michonne eyed his hand in distrust. "Does that mean you'll stop antagonizing me at every turn", she put in, her eyes darting up to his face.

"I'll certainly try", he drawled.

She stared at him, trying to gauge if he had an ulterior motive, finding no guile in his expression, they shook hands.

He nodded at her. "So, let's get this started, shall we", he said loudly as he walked away from her and to the waiting group.

* * *

 **A/N:** Will this truce last, and will it help, to further develop their relationship?


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** So, I have remixed the story lines of season 3 and 4 to give you this. And we have some OCs in here, they play important, but very minor roles in this chapter. And thank you guys for your reviews and continued support for this story. I do plan to update PtF, at some point in time, when inspiration strikes so that I can finish it. By the way, that promo and post on Tumblr has me excited for this new season. Forgive the blatant errors, fell asleep whilst editing.

 **Chapter 5:** **Always meant well**

"We are finished here".

 _She's good at this._

With the sun beating down on his head, he watched her with something akin to a begrudging respect as she went about organizing the class for a trip outside the walls to consolidate the skills they had learnt that day.

Rick thought back to when they had first met, he'd just killed Pete and the only thing on his mind had been to get back to his children, the only two people in the world that kept him grounded. He had noticed the way she had reacted to his name, an almost subtle pause that had had him on edge. Part of him had wanted to jam his gun to her head. Who was she? Where had she come from?

Then she had wanted to leave, unbelievably so, when it had been clear she had initially planned to stay. Sometime between her first night and the following day, she had changed her mind, and that's when the seed of suspicion had taken root.

The deaths and near misses of the past few years- his mistakes- they'd taught him a valuable lesson. He had learnt to trust his instincts more and more. After Terminus, then the dishonesty of Father Gabriel and after Grady, he had learnt his lesson, one that he didn't care to repeat. People could not be trusted to be just who they presented themselves to be, even more so in this world they were now trying to survive in.

Michonne thought he was playing games with her- that was hardly the truth. It piqued his interest, the fact that she seemed so put together, and yet she revealed a vulnerability to her character without even realizing it. And for the most part, she was just so contained and enigmatic, almost as if she was hiding something. He figured if he pushed her far enough she would crack, and her true colors would reveal themselves.

The things he did- the level and depths he had sunk to were all necessary in making sure his children got to live. Honestly, they were the reason why he had not killed Pete and anyone else who had opposed him that day, right there in the middle of their suburban street. Shame filled him as he recalled initially pushing Carl away during his impassioned speech.

When he had appeared again in his line of vision, holding Judith and that familiar look of hopelessness, it had been the slap in the face, he had needed. That lost look on his son's face had been there when Lori died and when they had to blindly evacuate the prison, Judith lost to them in the rush to escape the multitude of walkers that had made their way inside the prison.

The loss of Judith, their family and home had been a heavy blow. The forlorn expression had remained on Carl's face on the road to Terminus, and grew even more drawn after that sonofabitch had tried to rape his son. Carl refused to talk about it, Rick had said and done all he could to help and comfort him but he sensed that some of the trauma still lingered.

The only highlight had been serendipitously meeting Daryl and eventually the rest of their family, and Judith, safely ensconced in Carol's arms. He had been grateful and felt indebted to Carol ever since.

The stable environment of Alexandria had been good to Carl, he was still the same but more introspective and hadn't really allowed himself to get attached to the people here. The loss of Beth and Noah were an additional loss on top of many others. He never wanted to see that look in Carl's eyes again. He had decided that he needed to find another way to make it work in Alexandria, not only to keep his children alive but for them to have a life. He had to find a way to keep his whole family intact and safe.

Making Alexandria and its inhabitants stronger kept him and his family safe, and that had been his motivation in asking Michonne to stay. Even on that first night, he had sensed the fighter in her, and in this place, he needed more people like that. He needed her skills to help rebuild and protect Alexandria, his home.

Maybe Michonne was whom she claimed to be, maybe there was nothing sinister about her wanting to live there. It wasn't easy, letting go but he realized that he had to stop antagonizing her at every turn. For now, he was going to be cautiously welcoming.

* * *

Rick found himself walking beside her as they walked out the gates, she directed them into the woods, not too far away from the community. It didn't take long for them to attract the attention of the walkers. One by one, the residents took care of their walker effectively, each successful execution meant the group was slowly dwindling down. The successful made their way home in small groups as instructed, satisfied with the work they had done.

That's when he noticed something odd.

He redirected his focus on the efforts of the last five people that remained, two of them were trying fruitlessly, to stab at a walker. At least, they were trying.

His eyes took in the clumsy efforts of a short, portly looking blonde man with a toothbrush moustache under his nose, reminiscent of an old dictator. Next to him stood two women who looked like sisters- both were tall, had brown, mousy looking hair, and freckles on their faces. Their noses were scrunched up in what looked like, _disgust_.

They stood off to the side as if they were spectators, watching Michonne as she helped the two teenaged boys with their kills. Something about them was familiar but he couldn't remember their names. Rick stared at the man who seemed to sense his gaze because he turned his head to look in his direction. A look of discomfort crossed the man's face and he looked away, seconds later he leaned in closer to his companions, the two women bent down to listen to him.

What in the hell were these fuck-wits doing! He narrowed his eyes at them waiting until the boys had left before stomping his way over to them. Seemingly in sync with each other, they turned to face him. Looking over their shoulders, he saw Michonne frowning at him questioningly as she took care of disposing the walker remains.

He redirected his gaze to the people in front of him. "Is there a reason why the three of you were not participating?" He jerked his head to the side threateningly, when nobody ventured to answer him.

The blonde man came to stand in front of the women, he craned his neck up to look at the leader of Alexandria. "We don't see the need for all of this…" he trailed off, he looked behind him and then back at Rick. "There is no need for all of this ugliness. We were fine _before,_ under Deanna's guidance but you are not a bad leader yourself. It's some of the questionable and less than savoury characters you have in your group." He looked behind him again and jumped in surprise when he discovered Michonne standing behind him, her sword at her side, blood dripping off of it. He cowered away from her, forcing the other two ladies back with him, in an effort to distance himself.

Rick glowered at him, stunned speechless, not only by the highly pompous and put upon British accent, but by the blatant ignorance and bigotry he was spouting.

"Leave", Michonne dismissed them icily as she cleaned her sword and slipped it into its scabbard.

All three eyed her movements carefully and then sneered at her, they dropped their blades and nodded at Rick before walking away.

"What the f-" he burst out, angered by their behaviour. He turned sharply with every intention to confront them but was stopped by a hand in fingerless gloves that wrapped itself around his upper arm, the cold fingers pressed against his warm flesh for a few seconds. He looked down at it, surprised to find that indeed, Michonne, was touching him of her own volition.

He looked her in the eye. "What are you doing, are you trying stop me?"

She rolled her eyes at him and let go of his arm. "I'm not trying to, I am telling you that whatever you are thinking of doing, it's not worth it".

Rick lost his train of thought, he could still feel the imprint of her fingers on his skin. "Why are your fingers cold", he muttered.

"Huh?"

He was both embarrassed and relieved that she hadn't heard what he had said. "Did you hear them? What they said?" he challenged her, frustrated by her nonchalant attitude.

"I did!" she cried, her voice raised. She looked away, her gaze scanned the trees as she visibly collected herself. When she looked at him again, there was a dangerous glint in her eyes that made his heart pound against his ribcage. "I just don't give a shit".

She walked away from him after that, he was left standing there, looking at her retreating back contemplatively.

"Why", he called out to her.

Michonne stopped mid-stride and faced him. "Why", she retorted. "Just because it's the end of the world, doesn't mean all the racist fucks out there stop existing. I've had to deal with my share…" An indecipherable look entered her eyes as she drifted off, she visibly shook herself as her eyes refocused on him. "I need to finish my duties, see you later, Rick".

He wanted to push it but sensed that the truce they had struck would come to an end, even before the sun went down. Even if it bothered him, he couldn't make her talk about it. It now occurred to him that these people hadn't only been talking about Michonne, Sasha was included in that list of _less than savory characters_. If these people had a problem with those he put in leadership roles, he wondered if there were others like them, who shared in, on their ignorance.

He definitely did not need people like that in his community.

* * *

Michonne had been so focused on her task of moving the small number of walkers that had been taken out by their long range sharpshooters- away from the wall. After the emotionally draining day she'd had, she was relieved that she didn't have much work to do before heading home. After the truce, she had made an effort not to be overly suspicious of everything that Rick said or did.

The situation with Beckett, his wife, Julie and her sister, Chelsea- hadn't really bothered her. Their behavior only served as a reminder of one of the vilest man she'd met in Woodbury, the Governor's lapdog, _Merle_. Even thinking of him had effectively extinguished the lingering light mood she'd been in, at the beginning of the day. Woodbury, had really never been a viable option for her, as a place that she could eventually call home.

It was Rick's reaction to their narrow-mindedness that had surprised her, a part of her had been pleased. Not because she had assumed he was some backward, racist redneck. No. That wasn't it. All this time she'd been trying to fit him into a box, put him under a category so that she'd know how to deal with him.

Undoubtedly, he wasn't the Governor type, nor was he, Merle. Rick Grimes was not the nice, genuine guy who made an effort to do what was right and fair. It was clear to see that he did all he could for his family and friends but he had evolved into something undefinable. Andrea certainly would not have recognized him.

She was startled out her thoughts when the heavy load of the walker she was carrying became lighter. Her eyes darted up to find the man that had been the subject of her thoughts, on the other end, holding on to the legs. He helped her carry it to the pickup truck that someone else on dumping duty, was using to transport them to their dump site.

They worked in silence and when they were finished, they both made their way inside the gates which were opened by, Spencer. He greeted Rick with a nod, then looked at her with a warm smile on his face. "So…was today better than yesterday", he joked.

Her lips twitched, this guy never gave up, even when she purposefully ignored his attempts at making conversation. At first, she's been taken aback when he started talking to her and this was after her first official day as a contributing member of the community. Mostly, it was because the other residents kept to themselves, and were content with watching her from afar as they talked about her. They were only forced to meet her through her training sessions.

Spencer on the other hand, had asked her how her day had been and she had walked past him without a word. Then one day, she had responded and he'd made a game out of it to see what she would say to describe her day.

"I haven't decided yet", she drawled. "Have a good night".

"You too", he acknowledged with a grin as he returned to his post.

The whole time, she was acutely aware of Rick's quiet presence at her side but she tried not focus on that, she was highly confused as to why he hadn't gone on his way, already. He returned the greetings from most of the people they walked past but she didn't miss the distrustful looks, thrown her way.

"I didn't realize you were on speaking terms with Deanna's son" he commented.

She wondered if he was asking her a question or just making an observation.

It was none of his business but she didn't see the need to hide anything so she answered him. "We aren't".

"Then what was-"

"Rick!"

Rick stopped walking and she followed suit. She already knew who it was and sure enough, Jessie stepped out of the courtyard, crossed the street and made her way towards them. Yesterday's meeting with Jessie entered her mind, the niggling feeling that it hadn't been a coincidence crept upon her again but there was no way to prove it. Nor did she need to.

Turning back to face Rick, she wondered at the look of consternation on his face, _trouble in paradise?_ Well, what had he expected, he'd killed her husband after all, not that Jessie acted as if he had murdered her husband. There was seriously something wrong with this pairing.

"I'm going to head off, thank you for your help today", she said politely. She was about to walk away but stopped as she realized how weird he might find her, choosing to leave at that very moment. She looked at Jessie again who was drawing closer, her eyes glued to Rick.

She smirked. "Say hi to your girlfriend for me".

* * *

His jaw dropped, _girlfriend?_

Unfortunately, Michonne had walked away again before he could formulate a response, the only clear thought that streamed into his consciousness was that she had found out, about the thing with Pete.

Belatedly, he realized that Jessie was now standing in front of him and had been talking to him. He tuned in just as she mentioned Michonne's assumed that she was asking him why they had been together. Annoyingly, he had noticed a bewildering shift in Jessie's behavior. She liked to keep tabs on him, wanting to know where he had been, what he was doing, with whom- as if she had a right to know. Probably, that's what everyone else thought.

They could've been, together, had he gone ahead and killed Pete that day on the road. If Carl and Judith hadn't shown up- he shuddered at the thought of what kind of man, he would have been today. Lust and an opportunity to take over Alexandria family had fueled him to travel down that path, he hadn't cared that she was married. Even now, he felt ashamed, he'd seen the abusive situation she was in and all he'd seen was a golden opportunity.

As it was, he just wanted her to find some peace for herself and her children, and find some way to move on. But shockingly enough, Jessie seemed to have gone into some kind of shock. Though Pete had been a bastard, she had been married to him for a long time and she still, had yet to grieve or even talk about him. Jessie acted as if he had never existed and he didn't feel that he could bring him up, either.

He sighed internally as he took the pains to explain where he had been all the while, thinking, he needed to find a solution to this problem. He couldn't put up with this for much longer, maybe Carol could help her. He started walking home and she followed, a step behind him.

"So, are you going to finally come to that dinner you keep on postponing?" she asked, giggling.

He felt sick, he couldn't expect Carol to keep helping him- she was his problem.

He glanced at her. "No".

"No?" Jessie sped up and placed a hand on his forearm to halt his movement. "But why?"

He clenched his jaw in frustration and stopped walking, his body turned away from hers. "What has been goin' on with ya?" When she didn't respond, he looked at her, the look of confusion on her face irritated him. "Do you think this is healthy?" he bit out, he gestured between them. "I killed your husband, Jessie, and you want me to come over and have dinner with you and your boys. Isn't there something wrong with that picture to you?"

Any confusion that had been on her face melted away to be replaced by rage. "Don't talk about him!"

He rubbed a hand over his eyes. "Then what do you wanna talk about, perhaps this act you've been putting on since that night", he suggested, blithely.

"Screw you, Rick. Don't you ever come near me or my children, again!" she spat. She turned on her heel and stalked away, the blonde ponytail swinging sharply with her movements

Shit. He should have let Carol handle this but maybe, in this way, he was now released from this strange relationship that they had.

When he finally got home, he breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped through the door. The sight of his son playing with his little sister made him feel happy, and draw a genuine smile from him. Carl sat up when he spotted him standing at the entryway to the living room.

"Hey, dad", he greeted him, with a small smile on his face.

"Hey", he said, just as warmly. He ruffled his long hair affectionately, and picked up Judith who was already reaching for him. "Any trouble?"

"No. You?" he asked, curiously as he got up from the floor.

There was a time when he would have wanted to protect him from the ugliness of the world, at least, until he had matured and had the skills to deal with such issues. But the apocalypse had forced Carl to grow up, had forced him to face the ugliness of the world, early. He described the three scumbags from the woods and what had happened.

Carl looked stunned. "That's Beckett, his wife Julie and her sister, Chelsea. You know them…"

Rick shook his head then stopped just as suddenly as it dawned on him that he did know them, from that party Deanna had thrown for them. They'd just walked into the party and he had been standing with his children and the rest of his friends, as they observed the crowd. Those three had been talking about Sasha - who had not arrived at that time and Father Gabriel. They were making derogatory remarks about her, Maggie and Abraham had to be restrained from starting a fight. He probably would have dealt with them later but then, regrettably, Jessie happened.

"What are you going to do about them? I can't believe she let them go, that she didn't even threaten them with her cool sword", he marveled at him.

"Not even", he agreed, sharing the same sentiments. Her general reaction to the whole thing spoke volumes of what she had gone through.

He clapped a hand on Carl's shoulder, deciding that he would speak to the others on how best to handle this situation- and guided him towards the kitchen. "I was thinking of going on a run at the end of this week when Daryl and Aaron come back. I want to investigate the place where Michonne found them…do you wanna come with? Maybe you can ask her about her _cool_ sword".

"Are you serious? Hell yes!"

"Carl, language", he protested halfheartedly, and pretended to block Judith ears.

* * *

 **A/N:** Can you take a guess as to whom, our next guest will be, *wink, wink*. And more Rick, Michonne and team family interactions to be had in the next chapter. I really hope to post that one before the new season starts.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I was struck by a case of writers block and then the season started, and I just stopped writing altogether. I sincerely apologize to everyone, lovely readers and fellow Richonners. Thank you for the words of encouragement, follows, and reviews. I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

 **Chapter 6:** **Protect**

Michonne stood quietly and observantly by the gates, watching Rick say goodbye to his family. She took in his protective posture as he held on to Judith tightly and kissed her forehead, before releasing her into Carol's arms. Something was communicated silently to Daryl, the latter nodding his head, unsmiling, as he shook Rick's hand. Rick clasped a hand on Carl's shoulder and they both turned, now heading towards the gates. Her eyes were still fixated on Rick and it took her a little while, to realize that he was looking right at her. It was when he cocked his head to the side questioningly, that she looked away, her face burning as she thought back to their encounter two days ago.

* * *

 **Two days ago…**

The cool night air was a welcome change from the heat inside Maggie's home, she settled against the wall and sat cross legged next to the entrance- that had been left open- enjoying the moment of solitude. The light from inside the house illuminated the porch and the immediate surrounding areas. It had been fun, socializing, even though she had given up on her own game of charades with Sasha, Abraham and Glenn after losing a couple of games, consecutively. Abraham had been her completely drunk and clueless partner, his attempts at cheating, hilariously terrible.

At one point in time, she'd found herself adopting his bad behavior and that was the moment when it happened, the reason why she was sitting outside. The jovial, playful mood had got to her, she found herself trying to write down an answer on a pad of paper, and just as she was emphatically pointing it out to Abraham, her eyes met a curious set of blue eyes. Just as sudden as their eye contact had been, she was immediately distracted by the loud protests from their opponents who'd caught on to her cheating ways.

A new game of cards was started but she politely declined, claiming to want some fresh air but really just wanted to be alone. Rick's gaze had been effective in pulling her out from cloud nine and back to reality. It was dangerously so easy to be drawn in by the genuine warmth, love and care these people had for each other. It was so easy to forget everything and the urge to reveal her secrets, was hard to resist. But now, it felt like too much time had passed and she had missed her opportunity to come clean.

She didn't particularly feel like going home yet either, so she sat there, soaking in the general atmosphere. Laughter from inside drifted outside, dispelling the somber mood that had threatened to take over. A small smile formed at her lips as she forcibly pushed these thoughts and secret-revealing-urges, deep inside. A shadow appeared on the porch, she looked up and was surprised to find Rick standing at the doorway. He didn't look at her at first, making her think he was actually leaving, that was until he stepped down on to the porch and came to sit down next to her, with his legs straightened out before him, leaving a sizable gap between them.

She stared at him.

"I thought you were enjoying yourself, in there", he stated, in response to her unspoken question.

Michonne grinned wryly at the irony, him being the reason why she was out here. "I was… I just wanted some fresh air".

Rick seemed to accept that as her answer and moved on. "I wanted to talk to you about something-"

"If it's about what happened yesterday", she interjected sharply, "I don't want to talk about it. And telling your family about it either, wasn't you letting it go, either", she continued.

Last night, she had learnt two things from Maggie and Sasha, the first; was that there were no secrets between Rick and his extended family. And the second thing was that Rick and Jessie had had some sort of spat, sometime after she left him. This piece of gossip had been all over Alexandria by the time she ventured out of her house that morning, with an additional rumor running around that they had broken up.

He didn't immediately react, choosing to look in front of him, seemingly lost in his own thoughts.

"If you were in my shoes, if someone's very existence was a constant threat to...possibly the lives of the very people you care about", he said softly, "what would you do?"

The three people she'd cared about the most were gone, thoughts about what could she have done differently hounded her for a very long time. Thoughts such as: what if she had told Andrea about the kind of man the Governor was, would she still have been alive today? She was startled out of her melancholic reverie when Rick suddenly stood up and proceeded to extend his hand out to her. Hesitantly, she reached up for his hand and he pulled her up to her feet. When she was up, she couldn't help but notice how close they were standing next to each other, their bodies almost touching. Suddenly, the fact that Rick was a man became more apparent in the way that her body responded to his proximity, his scent, and just the way he held himself.

She blinked at him stupidly and immediately averted her gaze when she found him looking at her, afraid that whatever was currently happening in her mind would be reflected in her eyes. Feeling overwhelmed by sensations that had seemingly materialized out of the blue, she backed away from him, putting some much needed distance between them.

Feeling slightly awkward, she pointed her thumb towards the door. "So, I'm gonna go back inside...I promised Carl a game before I left". She escaped back into the house before Rick had a chance to say anything.

An hour or so later, she'd intended to sneak out without him noticing, her plan almost worked except that soon as she vacated her chair and whispered some sort of farewell to a triumphant Carl, he came over from where he'd been talking to Carol. He now had Judith with him, her tiny head, resting peacefully against her father's chest.

Michonne looked at the family three that sat before her, they made quite a picture that engendered conflicting feelings of loss and hope within her. Hope that one day, if a cure or peace were to be found, she would get a second chance at having her own family.

"Are you going?" He asked as he lowered himself on to a chair next to Carl. "I wanted to talk to you about a recon mission that I want us to take when Aaron and Daryl return", he informed her.

"This is about where I found them trapped, isn't it, the walkers", she guessed, sitting back down.

"Something about that situation doesn't seem right, the question is, who captured all of those walkers and for what purpose?", he puzzled. "And it's too close to Alexandria to not do anything about it, we'd be the first targets", he concluded, rather grimly.

"Yeah", she agreed. "I'm in"

"I'm coming too", Carl chimed in, equal amounts of excitement and seriousness displayed on his face.

Surprised and concerned by this revelation, she looked from him to Rick, doubtfully. Carl must have sensed her misgivings about his involvement because a scowl appeared on his face.

"I can protect myself!" He stated rather abruptly, he stood up from his chair and stormed off.

Rick looked bemusedly between the two of them as he also stood up, adjusting Judith who had slipped from her perch on his shoulder, re-positioning her into a comfortable position. He bade her a farewell and followed after Carl.

Clearly, that had been the wrong thing to say, judging from his reaction. It occurred to her then, that she may have been projecting her own feelings about Carl going out there with them, as if _he_ was her second chance to do it right. There was something lonely and sad about him that spoke to her and it made her both happy and nostalgic to see him smile.

Maybe this was a sign that she was getting too involved when her initial plan had been to fly under the radar. It was proving difficult to remain on the sidelines though, she felt drawn to them.

* * *

 **Present timeline…**

Michonne climbed into the backseat of the truck with Carl whilst Rick and Aaron sat in the front, the latter being their driver. Her backseat partner ignored her for a better part of the journey, the sheriff's hat on his head served as another barrier because it had been pulled down so low that it covered his face. After that night, she decided that she was getting too close to _them_ and maybe, it was okay to distance herself. Even though she wanted to make up with Carl and engage with him, she held it in.

As for the other thing, the reason why her body had reacted to Rick- he was attractive and she'd noticed, he was a very tactile person- it didn't mean anything. She also thought Spencer was cute but she wasn't freaking out over that because it also didn't mean anything. After the get-together at Maggie's, she had spent those last moments before succumbing to sleep, reminding her body that it had gone this long without a man's touch and it sure as hell wouldn't be Rick to break that cycle. It wasn't because she didn't have needs, now that she was relatively safe and could even think about these things, she wanted to eventually be with someone again. For now, she had her fingers, a pillow and the handle of a hairbrush (she'd used once) to satiate her needs.

An hour or so had passed since they had left their home, she was jolted out of her thoughts when the car came to a sudden stop. Looking out the window, she was startled to find that they had left the open road and were now parked in a clearing big enough for the car to fit in but also somewhat camouflaged by the foliage. She released her seat belt, picked up her weapon and stepped out of the car.

Rick came over to where she was standing, checking his gun as he came to stand by her.

"I thought it best to make the rest of the journey on foot, in case…"

"Makes sense", she agreed easily, looking around trying to gauge which way they would go. Carl and Aaron were grabbing back packs from the trunk.

Rick focused on her as he holstered his weapon. "Are you okay?"

Baffled by his question, she cocked her head to the side to look at him. "Yes…why?"

"You didn't say much in the car"

Against her will, her lips curled upwards. "If you hadn't noticed by now Rick, I'm a woman of few words", she said dryly.

Rick grinned in response then turned at the sound of the trunk closing.

Aaron gestured to an overgrown path that was partially hidden by their vehicle. "You may not remember this Michonne, but we came this way that night", he spoke, warmly, most likely recalling the circumstances of their meeting.

She nodded thoughtfully as she looked at her surroundings again that were bathed in strips of sunlight that penetrated into the forest. "Vaguely".

Making sure they had all they needed, they followed Aaron further into the forest.

* * *

"What in the hell"

Michonne froze at the sight of the empty parking lot, no walkers in sight save for the trucks that seemingly hadn't moved an inch. She stared at Aaron in disbelief, who also seemed to be similarly afflicted as he gaped at her, his mouth working.

"I'm guessing this isn't what you were expecting" Rick observed grimly, as he took out his gun.

"This place was swarming with walkers, at least a hundreds, give or take", Aaron said, worried. " _Somebody_ actually moved them back into those trucks or somewhere else".

Michonne listened to them in silence, her gaze remained fixated on the vehicles that possibly held the walkers. A knot of dread settled in her stomach as she recalled that day she had first come upon the supermarket.

"I think we should look around, see if we can find anything", Carl suggested.

Rick made a sound of agreement as he checked his gun, then looked at him. "You stick with me, Carl" he said firmly. "Will do a perimeter check first, then we go in and out. Nobody goes off on their own", he cautioned.

They walked in together, making their way towards the loading dock. As they got closer to the first truck, she paused in her tracks as the unmistakable and distinguishable groans reverberated from inside it.

"Damn it! Will have to figure out a way to get rid of them, something that will take them all out in one go". His hand ran along the body of the semitrailer, getting a feel of the material. "Show me the trigger", Rick asked Aaron.

They all followed him and climbed up on to the platform of the loading dock. As they headed one way, she drifted away from them to take a closer look at the passage that lead into the back of the building.

It looked a little bit dark and foreboding so she didn't venture far inside, stopping at the entrance. Just as she was about to turn away, she thought she saw a gleam of something silver, flash at her. She almost dismissed it, but couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. Tightening the grip she had on her sword, she climbed up on to the lone step that led into the back part of the supermarket.

"What is it?" Carl asked, quietly, he also peered down the passageway and looked back at her.

"I'm not sure". She eyed him and his gun from the corner of eye and had to repress the instinct to redirect him back to where his father was still talking to Aaron and inspecting the trucks. That's when she heard it, the distinct clicking sound of a gun being cocked.

"Get down!" she screamed as she fell to the ground and pulled Carl down with her just as a gun went off. An excruciating jolt of pain raced up her leg making her wince, her leg must have landed heavily on the edge of the step. Despite the pain, she scrambled just as quickly to cover his body with her own as soon as she made contact with the uneven ground. An answering shot echoed seconds later and this time it sounded like it had come from behind her. She tried to get up on her own but was suddenly lifted upright and off of the floor.

Relief. Relief is what she felt when she gazed into Rick's face, he was alright. He didn't stay long because he immediately left her to attend to Carl who was getting up on his own. She would have felt abandoned if it wasn't for the fact that Rick was more concerned about his son's wellbeing. If roles were reversed, she would have been too. Unfortunately, she found out that as soon as Rick let her go, she had a hard time keeping her balance on one leg. Another set of arms caught her before she fell, she turned to look at Aaron and smiled up at him, gratefully, although it might have come off as a grimace judging by the concerned look etched on his face.

Rick had his back to her as he checked his son over.

"Is he okay", she demanded, turning back to face father and son, another child couldn't die on her watch.

"I'm fine, I'm fine" Carl, assured her, his speech pressured. He stepped around his father, his eyes narrowed at the way she was leaning against Aaron for support. His eyes frantically swept over her. "Why can't you stand, were you shot?"

Michonne was taken aback by the intensity in Rick's eyes when they landed on her again, his eyes visibly trailed down from her face to her leg, then up her body. When their eyes connected, his cheeks reddened.

She didn't know what to make of it so she focused on Carl. "I'm okay", she said, and attempted to move away from Aaron but he tightened his hold on her. "We need to get out of here, we don't know if he…or she's still in there or ran for back up", she burst out.

"His dead or he'll wish he was", Rick muttered, an underlying sinister tone in his voice. "Stay. Here", he ordered, looking at his son first, then she was shocked when the same stern look was directed at her.

He walked off, into the corridor with a torchlight, she could now see a body that was lay face down on the ground. They all watched as Rick emptied another bullet into the assailant's skull before he crouched down and turned the body over.

When he returned, there was that familiar dangerous look in his eyes, no one dared to ask him what he had found out. The trip back to the car was painfully long, they wouldn't let her walk. Aaron carried her part of the way on a different route back to the car and Rick ran ahead of them to get to the car to bring it over. They could see the main road where Rick would stop the car from just inside the tree line where they remained for cover, in case someone was following them. They stopped occasionally to take breaks and Carl took the opportunity to sit next to her, never saying anything but noticeably staying close.

"He should be on his way now", Aaron assured her, a look of concern on his face as he lowered her to the ground gently. They had made another stop when the jostling had gotten too much and she couldn't take it anymore in silence. "The swelling seems to be mostly below the knee, Rosita will look at it when we get back. And maybe get you some new pants", he joked.

She smiled weakly at his attempt to lighten the mood and sat down gingerly on a tree stump.

"Do you want anything", Carl asked hesitantly at her side.

Without looking at him, she shook her head, then looked down at the leg of her jeans that had been removed, courtesy of Aaron and his knife. She was just thankful that it hadn't been Rick to do the deed, and that he'd already gone to get the car.

"Maybe find me this exact style of jeans, that would be golden".

Carl sat down next to her, his body turned away from her, most of his face was concealed by his hat. It occurred to her that all the hovering might have been some misplaced guilt on his part, she peered under his hat as best as she could.

"Carl". When he didn't answer, she glanced at Aaron who still stood in front of them, his eyes focused on the road behind them. He shrugged his shoulders when their eyes met, clearly unable to understand the younger Grimes' silence.

Hesitantly she reached out to touch his shoulder, remembering how they had left things the other day, and the subsequent silent treatment that had flowed into their trip. "This wasn't you fault, you know", she ventured to say, softly.

He gazed back at her, his eyes seemingly searching her face for something.

"And", she continued, thankful that he was listening and hadn't stormed away like how their previous encounter had concluded. "I'm sorry about what I said the other day, if your Father was happy for you to come with us on this mission, then he knows that you can protect yourself".

"I _can_ protect myself, and I'd do everything in my power to protect my family too", he said, rather darkly, looking somewhere over her shoulder.

Michonne's eyes darted over to Aaron quickly then back at Carl, her intuition was telling her that there was something deeper and traumatic to his words. She was filled with sympathy for this boy but knew that pity was not what he needed or wanted from her.

"Then you are a good man, Carl", she declared sincerely.

From a distance, she could hear the rumble of a car fast approaching, Carl stood and picked up his backpack. He looked at her for a moment without saying anything until he held out his right hand to her. Confused, she placed her own hand in his and was pleasantly surprised when he pumped it up and down in a handshake.

"Truce?" He offered.

 _Like father like son_ , she almost laughed, thinking back to when Rick had said the same thing to her. She hardly knew the state of that truce and now she was about to forge another one. Without any forethought as to what kind of door she was opening with her next words, she held out her hand to him and smiled genuinely.

"Yeah, truce".

* * *

The journey back home was less stifling in the back seat, Carl was now talking to her- here and there- he mostly had questions about the katana. He was surprised to learn that she'd had never wielded it before the world had gone to shit, and had in fact laughed upon learning her true profession. He wanted to know how many walkers she had killed in total and seemed impressed that she had could take out at least five walkers in one stroke through decapitation.

However, Rick, on the other hand hadn't said a word to her other than to ask if she was relatively comfortable once she settled in the back seat, with her injured and exposed leg lying on the lowered back seats. He'd then closed the door and returned to his seat in the front. When they finally drove through the gates of Alexandria later that afternoon, and after parking in front of Rick's house, she watched in bemusement as Aaron said goodbye to her- stating that he would bring Eric with him later that evening to see how she was doing. She could only stare at his retreating back through the window until she realized that she's been left alone with Rick and Carl. The former was passing his back pack to Carl, and then he appeared before her a moment later.

"This is going to hurt", he warned her, then proceeded to gently manoeuvre her out of her seat, being careful not to cause her undue pain to her injured leg. Unfortunately, her leg got tangled up in the seat belt and he was already pulling, and lifting her up before they both noticed their predicament.

"Shit, shit, shit", she hissed out. Carl was instantly at the other side of the car, opening the door and carefully untangling her leg from the seat belt. She held in a sob, sincerely hoped that she could get her hands on some analgesia from the infirmary and just zone out for the rest of the day, in her bed.

Rick scooped her up again into his arms bridal style once her leg was free, he looked contrite as he gazed down at her. He slowly pulled her out of the car and paused momentarily once he had his feet on the ground. "Just a couple steps and you can rest...you ready, can we move?"

She groaned inwardly _, her house wasn't a couple of steps away,_ she grumbled in her head _, it was close but not that close._ Once the pain had somewhat abated and it was just a dull throb in the background. It was hard to ignore the distracting sensations of her stomach doing somersaults like a veteran Olympian, gold medalist champion, inside of her. Her heightened awareness of how close she was to him, how her body was pressed up against his, was that much harder to ignore.

"Michonne"

Closing her eyes briefly in an effort to tamp down her emotions that she refused to acknowledge, she opened her eyes and looked up at him, instantly realizing how unprepared she was to meet his blue gaze.

"Put your arms around my neck", he told her.

"Of course". This was not a good look, she was also acutely aware of their neighbors watching them, probably wondering why she was draped all over their fearsome leader. She closed her eyes again, determined to open them once she was in her own house.

After a couple of steps, she felt him walk up the stairs and up to her porch. "You know, I expected you to protest", he began, "but I'm glad we are on the same page and its just going to be for a few days until you are able to move on your own".

Confused by his words, she opened her eyes and squinted at him. "What?"

He ignored her. "Open the door, Carl".

That's when it hit her as she looked to the side, where Carl had been waiting for them. This wasn't her house.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Down the rabbit hole...its a metaphor **

"Rick…I'm serious, this better be a stop along the way!"

They were at a standstill, there was nothing to do other than to eyeball him from the living room couch, where he had deposited her not more than ten minutes ago. In that space of time, he had sent Carl up to his room with instructions to; move his things into the main bedroom and to put down some clean linen on the vacated bed. Rick left her alone in the house momentarily and returned with news that he had sent for Rosita.

"And so am I, you can't even walk by yourself, let alone get up to make yourself something to eat." His arms dropped to his side, his eyes softened. "Just stay...rest, for a few days and I'll even find you a set of crutches to speed along the process", he bargained.

Michonne glanced down, unable to hold his gaze or think clearly about what she knew she should do and that was, refusing to stay here. Nothing good could come of it and she couldn't help but question his motives. This was the same man who had been suspicious about her appearance in the beginning, _probably still is,_ her brain supplied bitterly. He had openly played mind games with her; been arrogant and a dick and now, he wanted her to stay in his house?

"Why are you doing this", she asked, her eyes narrowed to slits as she gazed at him warily. He sighed through his nose and his lips curled at one end, a look of incredulity on his face. "And don't say it's because I'm hurt, two weeks ago you could hardly stand me, and now..." She floundered, not knowing how to describe their relationship status-quo.

He rubbed his forehead as he turned away, moving away from where he'd been standing at the end of the couch to sit down in a chair directly in front of her. "We have an understanding, don't we", he stated, "we agreed to work together, right, and that means making sure our home and its people are safe. That also means helping each other out". He gestured to her leg and then pointed at her face. "And you agreed to be less combative".

"And you promised to stop antagonizing me", she countered. They shared a brief smile at that, their eyes connecting meaningfully. Her gaze flickered away when she realised she had been staring, she fidgeted then grimaced at the pain that followed. Leaning back on the couch, she almost panted. "Where, the hell, is Rosita!"

As if the urgency in her voice had been needed to speed up the process, the universe answered. They heard the door being opened and the light tread that followed soon revealed Carol, clothed in another yellow cardigan with cat motifs.

Carol looked from her to Rick- who was now on his feet- then back at her exposed and swollen leg.

"Rosita asked me to give these to you, said she'd come by later". From her pocket she pulled out a single sheet of white, oval, shaped tablets which she placed in Michonne's outstretched hand. She folded her hands across her chest as she turned to Rick. "What happened, this was supposed to be a fact, finding, mission", she pointed out.

Michonne wondered at her a tone but didn't say anything herself, there was a strange vibe between the two as they looked at each other. Rick did not immediately respond but instead approached the couch where she was resting or dying, and grabbed the tablets from her hand, looking them over.

"Will talk in a minute, I gotta get her upstairs".

Michonne gave Rick the stink-eye and yanked the medications back from his grasp, if she had been in tip-top physical health, she would have protested at their need for secrecy. She had been present for the whole thing, why did he feel the need to keep her out of the loop. However, she bit her tongue, realizing that she was still pretty much a stranger to this tight, knit, group. She looked up at him as he hovered above her, the somewhat genial being she's been interacting with for the past few minutes seemingly gone, to be replaced by the face of the safe zone's leader.

"This is going to hurt", Rick warned, lifting her up and waiting until she was securely in his arms before making his way towards the stairs.

She looked over his shoulder at Carol who had stepped aside as they walked past her; she was staring back at them- look of bewilderment on her face- probably from wondering why she was _here_ , staying with them. _You and me both, girl, you and me both_ , she thought wearily, not really looking forward to her stay in the Grimes' household, however long, it may be.

* * *

"Do you want me to…"

"…later…"

"Do you think she's okay, Dad…she's been sleeping for hours…"

Bits and pieces of conversation happening around her drifted to her ears as she slipped in and out of consciousness. The one time that she opened her eyes, her vision was blurry and her head heavy with sleep, she was met with ugly ass curtains that looked like vomit. She blinked owlishly, not recognizing them, nor her surroundings but couldn't be bothered to get up and investigate. Her body felt like jelly-like, molding and sinking into the comforts of a strangers bed. The sound of a door closing in the distance reached her, her eyelids fluttered and within the next second, the world went dark, again.

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It was when, she was trying to re-position herself that she woke up at the odd sensation, of having one foot raised in the air, and the other lying flat of the bed surface. The room was bathed in dim yellowish lighting; she could make out her right leg resting on a bunch of pillows when she leaned on her elbows for support. The blanket had slipped down and she saw that someone had wrapped her leg up in a bandage.

It freaked her out just a little bit that someone had managed to do all this, whilst she slept and she hadn't felt any of it. _Maybe, take one tablet next time,_ she chided herself but on the other hand, the medication had done their job. The pain had lessened considerably to a dull throb, unlike what it had been when Rick had left her, here.

 _Here_ , being, in his home- for an undetermined amount of time.

Now that she was awake, her other needs such as peeing and hunger made themselves known to her. Throwing the blankets aside, she groaned as she tried to get up, having her leg up that high wasn't helping. After several attempts to get up, she finally managed to slide her leg off of the pillow fort, shifted to the right and in her haste to get moving, almost hit a set of crutches that had been left balanced against her bedside chair. Her eyes widened and she breathed a sigh of relief, _I can finally move around on my own, no more Rick touching her...don't think about that, don't think about it, rabbit hole, rabbit hole!_

After her little freak-out session, she shifted her bum up the bed to align herself with the chair, counted to three and used her arms and left leg to swiftly move into the seat. She felt something poke her ass as she sat down and it fell on the floor when she tried to reach for it. She didn't have the energy to look under the chair to see what it was. She almost cursed when one of the crutches teetered out of reach, luckily, she grabbed onto it just in time.

"Thank God", she breathed, inordinately relieved by the small victory.

It was tricky at first, never in her life, having ever used these things, she certainly sympathised with _Bambi_ in that moment as she made a few false starts, howling in pain when she put the wrong leg on the floor for balance- having, insanely, forgotten why she was using the damn things in the first place.

She paused at the door with her fingers curled around the door knob and chanted under her breath. "Please, let no one be awake, please", and twisted the handle.

It was a good thing that Carl's room was next to the staircase, the light from the lamp in his room illuminated the way just enough, for her to navigate her way down. Although it hadn't been easy, she had persevered, granted she was out of breath. She figured this was the only exercise she would be getting for the next few days. Going down the stairs was tricky, she had to move sideways and hold on to the railing, having almost fallen with the forward movements she'd been doing. If she died or fractured her spinal cord, it was all because she was hungry couldn't hold out until the morning.

Finally, with a triumphant smile, she reached the bottom and did a mini celebratory chant in her mind. The smile froze on her face when suddenly, the room was flooded with light.

"Michonne?"

Her heart sank, she slowly turned around and there on top of the stairs was the last person she'd expected to see, _totally logical thinking there, girl, considering that he actually lives here!_

"What, are you doing?" He wondered out loud, the southern twang in his voice more pronounced. "Going down the stairs in the dark and on those sticks?"

Now it felt like he was mocking her.

Willing herself not to rise to the bait and to avoid an argument when all she wanted to do was eat and go back to bed, she answered him plainly. "I woke up and I was hungry, thought I'd find something to eat".

He slowly made his way down and came to a stop right in front of her. On closer inspection, his hair was messy, the whites of his eyes slightly red. He was wearing boxer shorts and a brown t-shirt that looked at tad snug. He seemingly inspected her, looking at her from head to toe, then up again.

"What?" she blurted out, made uncomfortable by the scrutiny, she was still in her clothes from the run and she felt scruffy and dirty next to him.

"I'm guessing the walkie-talkie I provided wasn't to your liking, too safe, yeah. You'd rather risk a broken neck too, than ask for help, is that it?"

"Excuse me", she said, offended by his tone.

"I left you a walkie-talkie in case you needed help; I have one, so does Carol-"

"I didn't see it", she interjected, before he could lecture her or return to the rude and snide version of himself. "Honestly. Look, Rick, all I want is something to eat".

He looked at her steadily, his expression thoughtful, as if he was weighing the truth of her words.

"Ok"

"Ok?" An eyebrow went up in disbelief. "That's it?"

Rick walked around her without a response and headed towards the kitchen, flicking the light switch on as he walked past it. It was odd how for a second, she felt like she was that rebellious teenager again, living back under her father's roof and his stringent set of rules as she followed after him at a slower pace. He paused at the entrance and faced her, wordlessly pointed towards the table where her very first dinner in this household had taken place.

She leaned back on the crutches and stared at him, taken aback by his need to control everything. "Well, you bossy. Do this Michonne, do that... _you are staying here, end of discussion_ ", she grumbled, quietly. She turned back to the table and maneuvered herself into a chair as best as she could, dragging another to move it under her leg. It did feel good to sit down and her armpits hurt.

Caught up in her own thoughts, she almost jumped when he appeared before her, with a plate of red beans, two slices of bread and meat she couldn't identify, and tumbler full of water on the side.

"I'm bossy, huh", he said dryly as he situated himself on the other side of the table, a tumbler also in front of him. Stunned that he's heard her, she could only stare at him wondering how he would take that. "I guess it takes one, to know one".

She chuckled at his unexpected answer and picked up a fork, poking at the meat curiously.

"Rabbit…one of Daryl's kills from when he went out", he supplied. He was quiet for a moment as he watched her eat, taking a drink here and there from his cup. He cleared his throat making her look up at him. "What makes you say that I'm bossy?" he asked and when she started shaking her head, "no, seriously", he pressed.

Michonne didn't think this was a good conversation to engage in but at his insistence she relented, thinking, _what the heck. M_ aybe it wasn't smart of her to give in- it definitely wasn't smart but here she was, living temporarily, in his house.

She took a bite, her eyes darting up to his face. "I don't know...you didn't exactly welcome me here and there was that the thing about you threatening to kick me out, at every turn just because I didn't want to answer your questions".

Rick scratched at his beard, knowing that she still thought he had been toying with her. The things he had done and said had been necessary at the time and to be honest, he probably wouldn't have exiled her- she was strong, capable. It was just that…there was just something about her that put him on edge at times, how she both seemed at ease and uncomfortable whenever she was around him or his family.

He leaned back in his chair, one hand remaining on top of the table and other underneath the table playing with a loose thread that dangled from the table cloth. Probably he had gone overboard but he didn't want to live with regret of knowing he should have done something differently- he had enough of that, already.

"Life has taught me to be _careful"_ , he said softly. He thought he was going to leave it there but there was something that loosened his tongue, he made eye contact with her as he continued talking. "I was in a coma when all of this started. I lost and found my family and best friend…my family circle has grown and I've watched it dwindle down to the people you see here today, because of mistakes and indecision, by being…naïve or kind. So I don't take chances, not anymore".

Michonne tore her gaze away from his, somehow, thoughts of his late wife and best-friend drifted into her mind and she wondered if he was thinking about them was sad that he put so much on himself and carried the burdens of his losses so heavily. _I guess we are alike in that sense_ , but she now didn't have the pressure of taking care of other people- it was just her now. She also felt guilty for hiding how well she had known about him but she couldn't just come out and say it now having missed her moment, several of them, really. It was no use dwelling on these thoughts when she had no option but to keep her mouth shut.

She was startled out of her thoughts when she realised that Rick was saying something to her.

She eyed him. "What was that?" she asked, bringing the cup to her lips.

"I said, how's your leg, it doesn't look as swollen as it was earlier", he reiterated.

It took her a moment to realize that he had changed the subject to a less emotionally, charged, topic.

"Yeah". Her fingers traced the edges of the bandage that was wrapped around her leg. "I could even leave tomorrow at this rate", she suggested, flippantly, wondering how he would take that after all the scheming he had done to make her stay.

"You could", he agreed.

Instead of relief at his easy acquiescence, the sharp jolt of disappointment was instantaneous and jarring to her senses that she didn't have a chance to control her facial response.

Rick froze at the look on her face, she looked... _unhappy?_ His chest felt inordinately tight for a second and he took a deep breathe in through his nose when the pressure lifted. "If you want to, you could, but like I said before, you are welcome to stay until you are able to move freely", he added, unable to look away.

She was too embarrassed to offer up any sort of response in case she gave herself away.

Rick sat forward, his elbows on the table as her laced his fingers and looked at her. "Why were you walking down the stairs, in the dark?"

Michonne chocked on her drink, caught off guard by the question and at him changing the conversation again. Feeling flustered, she tried not to think about how she'd been trying to avoid him. The fact that she felt any sort of attraction for him was disconcerting. This was the same guy who'd killed a woman's husband all because he wanted her and then promptly dumped her soon after the deed was done. To be fair- from what she understood about the whole affair, that had been part of the reason.

He looked at her expectantly, she shrugged as nonchalantly as she could manage, trying to salvage whatever dignity. "I think I'm going to go back to sleep"

There was a noticeable pause, the air felt awkward between them. He slowly got up, his chair scraping along the floor making a loud, disjointed noise as he pushed it back.

"Do you want me to carry you back up or do you think you can manage", he offered.

"No!" His eyes widened and Michonne didn't blame him for being shocked by her unnecessarily loud, refusal. She coughed, feeling utterly ridiculous and annoyed by her less than subtle behavior. He probably thought she was weird. "Uh, its okay, I'll sleeping down here". Sensing that he was gearing himself for another argument, she grabbed one of her walking aides. "I'll hit you with this if you so much as make an attempt to carry me". Although she meant it, she grinned halfheartedly to show that she really wasn't threatening him with physical violence.

"But why, you'd be more comfortable in a bed and I can easily carry you", he pushed, unable to just accept her choice of bedding.

Yes, she didn't want him to touch her but also, she had been carried around all day and it made her feel like some sort of damsel in distress. She didn't want to appear weak before this man. "This...this I can do for myself, although it was nice being carried everywhere, I'm used to taking care of myself".

Rick watched her, taken aback with the tone of finality in her voice but he wasn't really surprised. She was the loner type, that much he had garnered from the way she didn't seem to be all that bothered that the other residents of Alexandria were not as welcoming of her presence, case in point; Beckett and his family of useless freeloaders. _Not Deanna's son though_ , his brain supplied snidely. He hadn't caught on until a couple days ago after training and Spencer had _smiled_ at her. There was a sense of camaraderie between them that he'd only seen Michonne share with Maggie and Sasha- perhaps his son could now be included in that group of people .

Not knowing how to feel about that, and deciding that this line of thought was not wise, especially after the situation with Carol that afternoon. He quickly went up the stairs and into Carl's room to retrieve a blanket for her, the pills and looked around for the walker-talkie which he easily found under the chair where he had left it. After handing these things to her and bidding her a goodnight, he went back upstairs pausing on the landing when he heard movement to his left, catching the door to Carol's room close a second later.

He almost growled at the thought that Carol might have been spying on him or more precisely, keeping an eye on his interactions with Michonne. He narrowed his eyes at the door, tempted to confront her, especially after what she had said to him.

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As soon as he came downstairs after making sure that Michonne had settled in, he trudged his way down the stairs, twisting his neck left and right feeling the strain of the day now that he was able to somewhat relax. His steps faltered mid-step when Carol appeared at the bottom, wiping her hand on a dishtowel in her hands.

There was the familiar judgemental look on her face that instantly put him on edge, he gritted his teeth braced himself in anticipation of whatever she would say to censure him.

"I told you not to take her with you, she's a liability and we don't really know her".

Rick controlled his reaction, but on the inside he was annoyed because on one hand, part of him did agree with her, they'd been burned enough to not want to trust anyone new. It had become a vicious cycle and they had been conditioned to stop it before one of them ended up dead. After today though, Michonne had put herself on the line to protect Carl. That had to count for something, right?

"You weren't there", he said, an edge to his voice and he proceeded to tell her in detail, what had occurred on their run.

"He had a **W** on his forehead? I'm guessing it's the same group that terrorized, Noah's, home", she said as a matter-of-fact, liquid pooled in her eyes and she looked away, blinking rapidly.

Rick nodded, the expression on his face grave, thinking of Noah and the possibility of a new threat, already knocking at his door.

Carol went on. "Do you think…", she wet her lips as she looked over his shoulder, her eyes focusing on the closed door to Carl's room. "Do you think she may be involved with them-".

He stiffened. "What!"

She stared at him, seemingly surprised. "Don't tell me you didn't even…her saving Carl may have been a cover for why she so conveniently found Daryl and Aaron", she surmised.

Stunned, he walked past her without a word.

"Hey!" Carol grabbed his shoulder, he glanced at the hand and then back at her. "What changed, not so long ago, you said she was not to be trusted, you had us trail her…watching her every move. What changed?" she demanded, her voice lowered to a harsh whisper.

"Nothing", he snapped, glaring at her. What could he say, that he was no longer thought that way. The way had been with her in the beginning felt a bit like overkill, he couldn't say that he fully trusted Michonne, he wasn't stupid- she had secrets, personal stuff. He regretted nothing for it had been necessary then, but this was now. He rubbed his jaw against his shoulder, feeling frustrated, not knowing how to say any of his thoughts.

"No really, after…", she looked down for a moment and then up at him, her gaze coy in a way that he didn't like. "How long has it been, close to three weeks right…what's changed", she badgered him.

He gave her a look, not willing to engage in whatever she was trying to prove- he walked away, again, thinking about the things he still needed to do before the sun went down.

"Is she the new Jessie?"

He stopped abruptly and turned sharply to face her, there must have been something in his gaze because she instantly raised both her hands in surrender walking backwards, a smirk on her face before turning around and heading back to the kitchen.

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Rick fingers gripped the banister and shook his head, confronting her right now- that would just be confirming her incorrect assumptions, he walked away and headed for his room were his two children rested. He needed this day to be over, this was the thought on his mind as his head landed on the pillow.

* * *

The day had started of slow, having moved back up into her allocated room that morning before everyone else woke up. Soon after the sun had started to shine into her room, her stomach rumbled. She chastised herself for becoming soft, Alexandria was making her weak, were was the girl who had gone for at least a week without anything solid. Now, here she was, hungry again when her last meal had been no more than seven or eight hours ago, at least. When it got too much, she glanced searchingly at the chair then felt around the bed, not finding what she was after. She groaned regretfully, realizing that she had forgotten it. Again.

There was a knock on her door then and it was opened a moment later, Carl poked his head through, smiling at her and walked in with a tray in hand when he saw that she was in bed. As he came closer he balanced the tray on one hand and pulled something out of the back pocket of his jeans.

Michonne accepted the communication device, sheepishly.

"Dad said and I quote, _I'm going to surgically attach it to your head if you forget it again_ , end quote". Carl grinned at her openly, surprising her by how much brighter and free he seemed. "Breakfast". He deposited the tray next to her on the bed. He made to leave but not wanting to be alone, she called him back, pointing out the comic book she'd found earlier on when she had returned to the room. An animated look entered his eyes and they'd spent better part of the morning trading stories.

By mid-arvo, she felt like she was getting bed sores and was bored. The string of visitors- and when she said string, she meant Maggie, Sasha, Aaron and Carl. Those had been the visitors she'd really felt somewhat comfortable in holding a relatively lengthy conversation with, the rest of Rick's family had featured at some point in time during the day. With a notable visit from Abraham and Rosita that had ended in the former getting slapped in the face by the latter when he had made a salacious comment about the bedridden patient making an ass-shaped dent in the mattress that she would have to be carved out off, by the time she left the household, to return to her own home. She didn't even know how the conversation had drifted in that direction. They had been smiling though when they left, Michonne had been disturbed by the lustful look that Abraham threw his girlfriend as he dragged her out of the room.

Every member of Rick's family had come in to see her, even just to say an awkward greeting and ask the generic question of how she was feeling, was she in pain, etcetera. Everyone, except Rick. At first, she hadn't really given it any thought, figuring that after passing on his playful threat through Carl, that at some point in time, he would make his way into her room. It wasn't that she _wanted_ him to come to her, especially after last night. After thinking it over, his almost cool, friend-like approach had helped temper her own emotions where he was concerned. _Colleagues_ , that;s what he had called them. She liked defining things and putting them into categories, that way, they made sense- she supposed this was a residual characteristic that she had adopted at work, before the apocalypse.

Deciding that she had spent far too much time needlessly obsessing over Rick, she distracted herself with the Tetris game, Carl had left her.

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She woke up with a start from a dream filled with little moving black-grey boxes, shifting and morphing behind her eyelids. Clearly she had been playing on the console longer than she should have, although, it had helped to pass the time.

Tired of her four walls, she slipped out of bed and grabbed her walking aides. She fixed the maxi, wrap-around-skirt, something Sasha had dropped off for her after they figured out that wearing pants, was not practical at the moment. It felt strange not to be in jeans, they had become her everyday uniform, and really, provided another protective layer between her pliable skin and walker teeth.

Feeling an immense amount of relief for not tripping on her journey down the stairs, she grinned as she turned the corner and ran right into another body that had been heading for the stairs. She staggered back, giving the other person space and looked up to apologize. Her face fell as her eyes landed, on the leader of, Alexandria. There was a sheen of dirt and sweat on his face that indicated that he most likely had been outside, the t-shirt he wore was filthy and she could hardly tell the its original colour.

She didn't know what to say to him and he wasn't helping either as he only stared at her with his blue filled gaze, seemingly, not having expected to see her but then a slow, lazy grin blossomed on his lips.

"Should I get out my sewing kit out", he drawled, crossing his arms at his chest, the lean muscles of his arms bulging and tensing at the movement.

Not having expected him to say anything, she cocked her head to the side in askance, not understanding a word of what he had said. He lifted an eyebrow in a way that she guessed was supposed to be meaningful and to hint at what he was trying to say.

"Unless you are planning to share with me your hidden talent for fashion and fabrics, I have no clue as to what you are talking about?"

"Carl told me, he passed on my message".

Michonne didn't even bother to search herself. "…oops, I did it again", she said, singsong. She was vaguely aware that they were teasing each other.

Rick's hands dropped to his belt buckle, specifically the tactical duty belt holster, her head and eyes followed his slow and deliberate movements. She blinked and swallowed with some difficulty, her face burning up when he suddenly held up his own device to her face, forcing her to look up and away from the lower half of his body.

Before either of them could say anything, there was a brief knock on the door near the living room that ended rather abruptly mid-knock when the door was opened. They heard voices talking and they both turned in that direction to see who would come through. Their visitors turned out to be Carol, followed by Spencer Munroe.

Michonne's eyes widened at his appearance.

Carol smiled at both of them as she walked in with a grey plastic bag filled with canned products.

She greeted them both and asked Michonne how she was. "Sorry I had to leave you alone in the house for a couple of hours with no help, I could have been here to help you navigate your way down the stairs for the first time on those things, it must have been hard", she said, a look of concern on her face.

Michonne hadn't known that she had been alone..

Not waiting for her response, Carol gestured to her companion and looked at Michonne. "Spencer was at the door, coming to see you…I invited him to stay for dinner so that you guys can catch up".

And with that said, Carol left the three of them standing silently next to each other.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I feel so bad for not having updated for so long. I hope you enjoy this chapter and hopefully part 2 will be out soon. THANK YOU FOR THE WONDERFUL REVIEWS.**

 **Chapter 8: A Coincidence [Part I]**

Dinner had progressed quite smoothly even though she sensed a strange vibe at the table and nobody was going to convince her differently. A voice spoke on her left, startling her out of her subtle observation of the people sitting around her- people, meaning Rick who didn't seem to be enjoying himself. He sat on the other side of the table towards the end, talking to Glenn before withdrawing from the conversation, redirecting his focus on eating and feeding his daughter.

"Michonne"

She jumped in her seat and looked to her left with wide eyes. There was an impatient look on Spencer's face; she figured he'd probably been trying to get her attention for a while. She felt her cheeks heat up.

He leaned in and whispered. "What are you thinking about so much that you face looks like you've swallowed something, bitter?"

Michonne drew back, surprised by his words but then grinned when she saw his own lips twitching upwards. "Are you saying that I'm ugly", she teased, with her knife pointed at him.

His eyes seemed to brighten, seemingly enjoying himself and their banter. The playfulness of the moment made Michonne pause- she was enjoying herself. A shiver went down her spine when she locked eyes with Rick, he didn't look away or seem embarrassed at having been caught staring. In fact, his gaze noticeably shifted to her left then swung back to her, a frown on his face.

 _I didn't realize you were on speaking terms with Deanna's son._ That's what he'd said to her earlier- after a moment of awkward silence- when the three of them were standing near the staircase where Carol had left them. Rick had given her this telling look and she'd instantly known he would say something arrogant or thoughtless in front of Spencer. _I didn't realize you were on speaking terms with Deanna's son_. She had laughed uneasily and fidgeted with her walking aides, throwing a confused glance at Spencer who was not at all that surprised at not being acknowledged.

Absentmindedly, she twirled the end of a loc in between her fingers, wondering what he was thinking now.

"What's this, are you two having a moment?"

Once again, she was startled out of her staring contest this time by a low, yet feminine voice that spoke on her right.

Sasha smirked at her, an eyebrow raised inquisitively. "Well…"

"I don't know what you're talking about", she denied, checking to make sure their conversation was still private.

"Right"

Michonne stared at her and became unnerved by her unwavering yet, meaningful gaze. Their friendship was a tentative one as they were still getting to know each other, granted it was easier to talk to her without having thoughts of Andrea popping into her head and that made a difference. "If I was to say objectively speaking he's an attractive man, will you let it go?" She asked, hopeful of ending the conversation.

Sasha almost chocked on a mouthful of rice she'd been about to swallow and had to assure Rosita who sat next to her that she was fine as she gulped down some of the juice in her cup. After a moment, she turned to Michonne who didn't seem all that pleased with her. "Sorry, it's just…whenever we've talked about him, I've never really gotten the impression you liked him very much. Follow him as a leader, yes. Like him, no".

Michonne faced forward, bodily turning away from the conversation. Feeling somewhat thirsty all of a sudden, she raised the cup to her lips but stopped short of consuming any liquid, only to put it back down. Running a finger around the rim of the cup, she couldn't help but think that it was true, she initially hadn't liked Rick- most probably the feeling was mutual. She just hadn't realized how much of that dislike had been transparent to other people. "I'd rather not talk about this, _here_ ".

"Okay, but know that we will finish this at some point in time", Sasha promised her.

Michonne shook her head at her, mildly amused. "That sounded vaguely like a threat, Sasha", she pointed out.

Sasha appeared thoughtful then cleared her throat rather obnoxiously. "I hope to have such a conversation with you another time, Michonne".

Michonne guffawed. "Now you sound like Beckett".

"Ewww!"

"I know".

Relieved that they had ended their conversation on a good note, Michonne tilted her head back to finish the rest of her water only to freeze in shock. Carol was staring right at her, a strange smile curled at her lips that was soon obscured as she also drank from her cup. _Had she been listening to them talk?_ Unnerved by that idea, she missed the fact that some people were starting to leave. She was pulled out of her thoughts by Spencer, calling her name and she turned to him, deciding to shelve Carol's odd behavior for later analysis.

"You seemed a little distracted tonight", he commented, standing up.

"…I don't think you know me well enough to make that assumption", she pointed out.

Seemingly taking it in stride and not deterred by her honesty, he nodded and stepped aside to give her some room, passing her the crutches when she was balancing her arm on the chair she'd just vacated.

"That's true, harsh but true", he concurred. "But it's not like I haven't been trying…"

She almost fell over at that, her eyes found his trained on her face. _Is he saying, what I think his saying_? Her gaze automatically found Sasha, who was still sitting down, her lips twitching.

"Michonne, aren't you going to say goodnight, it feels like we haven't talked all night." Maggie approached her with a grin on her face, Glenn trailing behind her with an indulgent look on his.

Spencer left soon after that and later, when Sasha was also leaving, she made sure to comment: _You know he was making a pass, right?_ Her response had been to suggest that she was delusional and to push her out of the house to Sasha's delight.

All in all, it had been a good night and went to bed, happy.

888

"So this is the plan…is it _her_ plan?"

"Keep your voice down."

Michonne paused almost near the bottom of the staircase, listening to Rick and Carol whisper quite loudly on the other side of the wall. It didn't take a genius to figure out who they were talking about and she didn't appreciate being talked about in her absence, especially in that tone.

"Carol you need to stop."

The fact that he had checked her, pleased Michonne, him standing up to Carol- this woman who seemed to be taking advantage of the fact that Rick owed her something, at least, that's how she saw it. A moment of silence ensued, she debated whether to just turn back and return upstairs where she had been exercising. The only reason she had ventured downstairs is because she heard their voices.

"We don't know who or where they are, theirs numbers and until we have that kind of info, we can't just venture into enemy territory. Not yet anyway. Right now, our only choice is to keep an eye on the trucks, continue training these people, increase our security and stock up on ammo and essentials."

"But-"

"It's a good plan, so that's what we are going to do", Rick cut in, and the tone of his voice brooked no room for debate. "Besides, if it doesn't work out, we have other plans in place and _our_ people know what to do".

At that, Michonne crept back up the stairs as quietly as she could, having a pretty good idea of who, 'our people', meant. This, us-versus-them mentality, made her wonder in which category she fell in, other? Although, unlike the Governor, he was actually equipping _them_ with the skills they needed and also doing his best to protect this place and that's all she wanted. The threat of being destitute again scared her, especially after settling in and accepting this place as her second chance.

Once she was back in her room, she laid back down on the floor and continued stretching feeling even more rejuvenated and validated in her decision to return to her own house. Yesterday, she'd gotten a wake-up call she hadn't known she needed to end this impromptu sabbatical. Gunshots had reverberated throughout the community. Carl showing up soon after to reassure her it had been a false alarm, just a trigger happy Beckett shooting at a tree that apparently looked like a walker. _What a fucking idiot_. On the surface it might not have seemed like a big deal but it made her realize she had a job to get back to. She couldn't leave the welfare of this place in the hands of that bumbling fool.

There was a loud knock on the door that disrupted her flow and made her sit up just as Carol walked in. Immediately it felt awkward, it occurred to Michonne that they had never been really alone together or ever interacted without other people present. They both just looked at each other, waiting for the other to speak.

"I was just coming in to say dinner will be on a little later than usual…got delayed", Carol said breaking the silence, an apologetic expression on her face.

She couldn't help but feel like a burden and somewhat embarrassed for coming across as someone who needed to be catered to, she levered herself up using the chair. "That's fine, I was actually going to come down and help with dinner, sort-of-like a, thank you for your hospitality kind of thing."

Carol cocked her head to the side, the only indication of surprise at the news. "You are leaving?"

Michonne nodded as she bent down to grab the comforter she'd been using on the floor as a mat, folded it neatly and placed it on the bed. She made her way towards the door and Carol opened it wider to let her through as she followed behind her.

"The limp is barely noticeable", Carol observed lightly.

Michonne stiffened with her back to her and gripped the banister tightly as she continued on down the stairs, hyperaware of Carol's presence behind her. It wasn't that she thought she would be pushed down the stairs, it was more of the fact the things Andrea had said about her didn't match up. The entire cloak-and-dagger act was a bit unnerving.

"Does Rick know?" Michonne looked back, over her shoulder questioningly just as she reached the bottom step. "About you leaving", Carol clarified, with a funny look on her face.

"No…I did tell Carl…why?"

Carol openly grinned at her. "No reason". She practically skipped past her, heading towards the kitchen.

Michonne went over their interaction as she watched her leave, _she's definitely playing some game,_ the thought came unbidden to her mind and she immediately recognized it to be true. This had been the same uneasy feeling she'd gotten around Rick in the beginning. If Carol was indeed trying to mess with her, she'd soon realise she wasn't someone to mess with if she knew what was good for her. With a clenched jaw, she strode after her into the kitchen, determined to make it through the night.

Sometime after dinner, she found herself sitting on the porch swing with her feet curled under her, watching the sun set. She waved to both Aaron and Eric as they walked past, her gaze remained fixated on their entwined hands recalling the former's account of their relationship before and after the apocalypse. It made her yearn for what could have been, if Mike had been half as brave and patient.

The sound of the door being opened reached her ears, she sensed that someone had stepped out, thinking it was Carl coming out to join her as they had previously planned, she didn't expect to find Rick standing there.

"Hi"

"Hey", she returned, her stomach flipped at the sound of his voice and the way he looked. They had just had dinner together but that was before he had cleaned up. His hair was now wet, ringlets plastered on his forehead, he smelled good and he had on the brown shirt, again.

Initially, she thought he had plans of going out but was pleasantly surprised when he came and sat down on the other end of the swing. He didn't say anything for what felt like a long time and she felt compelled to fill the silence.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked, feeling curious about his sudden presence.

He gave this look that she shouldn't have understood what it immediately meant, given their relationship hadn't evolved to that level yet. Re-positioning herself so that she was facing him, she rested her hand on her arm. "Carl told you, didn't he, that is why he's not here", she surmised, not even surprised that his son had told him before she had a chance to.

"He said I should try and convince you to stay", Rick put in, his voice high on the last word as if doubtful.

Michonne studied the profile of his face, she squinted at him and cocked her head to the side when she realized that he wasn't going to say anything further. "But you're not going to?" She concluded, feeling somewhat disappointed that he hadn't tried to, not that it would have made a difference.

He looked at her and shrugged. "If I thought it would make a difference…"

She peered at him, trying to gauge if he was serious or not, but ended up admiring his profile and had to shake herself back to reality when he glanced at her. "Remember you tricked me, I wasn't even supposed to be here", she rushed to say to cover her slip.

"Tricked you?" His head cocked in her direction.

She gasped playfully. "Yeah", she said in a high pitched voice, nodding. Maybe it was the view of the sunset or the knowledge that she was leaving that made her feel more comfortable in relaxing her defenses. "And I don't know what that was, when you let me believe Deanna was still the leader. I walked out of her house so confused to find you standing across the street with a smug look on your face. I was so angry."

"I honestly thought you were going to come over and punch me", he chimed in.

Michonne glanced at him. "I wanted to", she revealed.

Rick leaned back grinning at her, his arms coming to rest on top of the bench on either side of him. He looked at her taking in her bright eyes and the way her lips curled up to showcase her brilliantly, white, teeth. It felt like his heart had been forcefully slammed against his ribcage.

It took a moment for Michonne to notice the shift but he seemed to have shut down. For a crazy moment she thought that Carol snuck up on them and she actually turned her head to check, because that would explain the sudden change. Of course Carol wasn't there; she figured that this was one of his inexplicable mood swings. Feeling awkward, she fidgeted in her seat until she was looking out at the community again, her gaze intensely focused on nothing in particular.

Rick's life had become a routine, everything felt the same, the constant hunt for; security, food, shelter, peace- or as much as they could attain. Coming here was supposed to change that but the cycle had just continued in a way until _she_ had walked into that courtyard, then things begun to change.

Rick observed her, wondering what she was thinking and feeling, and couldn't help but think about how she'd been at the dinner with Spencer. It had bothered him how they seemed to be close yet she had previously claimed they were not friends. The fact that Carol had meddled- even though she'd tried to deny it- made him think there was more to their 'not being friends' than Michonne had first led him to believe. So the more she had talked to Spencer and shared smiles with him, the more he had stared at her, wondering why she wasn't as carefree with him. It hadn't helped that Carol kept throwing him triumphant smiles and pointed looks all through dinner. He'd noticed that they had been arguing a lot lately, about a lot of things.

"Are you okay?"

At the sound of her voice, he became aware that he had zoned out of their conversation and he could not remember what they had been talking about. Embarrassed that he may have been caught gawking at her for too long, he lowered his gaze and found himself staring at a line of ants that were disappearing into a crack in the floorboards.

"Are you okay?" Michonne repeated, softly.

Rick opened his mouth and closed it again. "Sorry, just thinking…"

Before Michonne could second guess herself, she responded to what she perceived as an invitation in his voice. "Being a leader must be hard…" She looked at him to find his eyes on her already. "The only other place I've ever lived with a similar set up, the leader was-"

"He was a murderous and conniving asshole?"

Michonne's eyes widened. "You remember that?" She asked, surprised, she had mentioned the Governor to him very briefly.

That's when had been trying to convince her to stay but in the process, testing her to see if bumping into Daryl and Aaron had been a pure coincidence. Like Carol, they had been suspicious of her motives. The fact that, Michonne, barely talked about her past made her that much more mysterious, it was hard not to feel like she was hiding something. He figured if he pushed her far enough she would crack, and her true color would reveal themselves. He also hadn't forgotten her strange reaction to hearing his name. "I remember a lot of things", he answered. Nothing had happened so far to suggest she was the enemy, she had tried to protect his son and that meant something to him.

 _Why did that sound so ominous?_ The front door opened again before she had a chance to say anything. Carl walked out and came to join them, she heard him asking Rick if he had managed to change her mind about leaving. It took her a while to be able to speak but was glad that Rick took up the reins of the conversation. Joining in when she finally convinced herself that she was just overanalyzing his words.

* * *

On some level, it did feel good to be back even though she hadn't been here long enough to feel that way but having her own space meant something to her. It had been a few hours since she'd been back in the house and she spent her time cleaning, doing some laundry and more menial tasks until mid-day. Later she would go and help up with the clean-up and tomorrow, return to her normal duties. In the morning before Rick left on a run with Glenn and Tara, he had asked her to also consider helping out Rosita in the infirmary as they still didn't have a doctor.

Now it was approaching midday and as she sat down on her bed, she sighed. The silence in the house was getting to her and she needed to get out for just a moment. With that thought, she sprung up from the bed and grabbed her katana by the strap of the scabbard. Upon returning downstairs, she spied the crutches that she'd brought with her earlier that morning with the intention of returning them to the infirmary. She grabbed those too and walked out of the house.

The heat slammed into her as soon as she walked out, she couldn't help but think escaping the weather was the only upside to not having any training sessions today. She was just turning a corner when someone fell into step with her and to her utter confusion; it turned out to be Jessie Anderson. She was red in the face, looked mildly disheveled and had bags under her eyes. It was such a stark contrast to the relatively put together woman in the courtyard, a few weeks ago.

"Hey, are you headed to the infirmary? I work there now, so I can take these in for you if you want." She suggested and rushed on to say, "But I also need to talk to you about something for a few minutes".

All this was said in one breath and she seemed to hold it in as she waited for her reply. Jessie brought her hand up to shield her face and squinted at her, when she didn't immediately respond.

Michonne's first thought was that she sounded almost desperate but it didn't take long for her to remember that Rick had asked her to also work in the infirmary. _Like…what the ever loving fuck was that about?_ Seeing her again was also an unwanted reminder of the connection the two had and it renewed her distaste of the fact that Rick had pursued this woman. She schooled her features, not wanting the other woman to sense or see how irritated she was.

It was tempting to walk away because what could she possibly want to talk to her about, _it better not be about Rick,_ feeling even more annoyed by the thought. The other woman looked miserable though and it was not in her nature to ignore her. So she nodded cautiously, passing the crutches into her arms.

"You might say it's none of my business but if I don't speak up, I'll feel all the more responsible when…" Her voice petered out, her gaze unfocused seemingly lost in her own thoughts.

Already having misgivings about agreeing to have this conversation, she attempted to put a stop to it. "Jessie-"

"Everybody was saying they saw you being carried into his house", she interrupted in an even louder voice and not making any eye contact. "And I haven't seen you around for a while so I'm guessing it's true. He will hurt you", she implored, now looking at her.

Michonne frowned, folding her arms against her chest and down at the other woman. "And you are telling me this, why?"

A hollow sound left Jessie lips and she shook her head. "I was like you, you know, I thought that he was going to be my second chance but he wasn't who I expected him to be. His like a poison, just like Pete and my only regret is, I didn't see it at first. You need to get out of there before he does the same thing to you!"

What Jessie didn't know was that she hated people making assumptions about her, her mood soured even further at the things she was saying about Rick. "Again, I don't know what made you comfortable in thinking you could come up to me and say these things. But like you said, it is none of your business and we are nothing alike." She turned on her heel and left, pressing her finger to her forehead as she went, feeling the beginnings of a headache. God, she didn't want to be involved in some sort of high-school-worthy, tug of war over the coolest guy in the yard.

As she draw closer towards her house, she made a snap decision to cross to the other side of the street and made her way towards Maggie's house. When Maggie opened the door, she'd been clearly surprised to see her and happily invited her into the house. A cold glass of water that clinked with ice cubes was pressed into her hand as soon as she sat down.

"It's so damn hot, isn't it?" she huffed, fanning herself.

"Definitely" Maggie agreed, dropping into the couch opposite Michonne's. "How does it feel being at home again?"

Michonne shrugged, although they hadn't known each other very long, Maggie had the uncanny sense of knowing when something was bothering her. "It's just the first day back, it just seems so quiet. No Carl to talk to, I guess", she admitted. It was better talking about this, rather than bringing up Jessie when she didn't even want to think about her.

"Well you can stay here and keep me company, Sasha is out on patrol and Daryl went out on one of his hunts. I was about to make lunch for Glenn and the others, they said they'd be back around that time. If you want to help, you may just get a free meal for your services", Maggie joked, pushing herself from the couch.

Only, they didn't return until much later.

888

Michonne almost jumped out of her skin when the front door was jerked open and a blood stained Glenn budged into the house. Before they could react to his sudden presence, Glenn quickly reassured his wife who had sprung up from her seat to meet him halfway.

"It's mostly walker blood, we got surrounded on our way back", Glenn explained, he looked around, nodding grimly at her in greeting. "Is Daryl here, we found something…someone", he said, cryptically.

Daryl had just returned home not more than a few minutes ago and had just ventured into the kitchen. He walked out into the living room, having heard his name.

"I'm here man, what's goin' on?" Daryl asked, concerned by Glenn's appearance, hoping that they hadn't lost any more people.

Glenn approached him carefully. "We were on our way back, we found him…or he found us, I don't know. It's Merle, he's got a gunshot wound to his thigh, nothing too serious but Rick is in the infirmary with him right now and Rosita is trying patch him up".

Daryl didn't move or speak, just blinked. "What did you say?"

Glenn repeated what he's said but Daryl had already walked past him and broke into a run by the time he passed through the door, disappearing into the night.

Michonne stood up slowly as she watched Maggie and Glenn follow him; her hands were shaking, her mind refusing to acknowledge what she had heard. _Really, what are the chances that it's the Governor's lap dog,_ she tried to reason. However her stomach had begun to churn unpleasantly, she couldn't dispel the horrible sense of doom gnawing in the pit of her stomach.

By the time she finally reached the door to the infirmary, she'd convinced herself it had to be a coincidence. Andrea had never mentioned Merle having a brother; she racked her brain trying to remember if she had ever hinted at it and for the life of her, she had no memory of it. The most she had mentioned about Daryl was his redneck-like behavior and his growing friendship with Carol and Rick.

Her hand slipped away from the door knob when she tried to open it, she wiped her palms against her jeans and tried again.

"Miss Spanglish you might be cute and all but get that fuckin' needle away from me!"

Stunned, she forcibly closed the door; she pressed her forehead to the door, her heart pounding loudly in her ears. _It's him, here in Alexandria of all places, had he followed her?_ That made her so angry especially after all she had been through.

"Michonne"

She turned around slowly to find Rick standing behind her with a familiar packet of pain killers in one hand, a fun-sized bottle of scotch in the other and his head in that familiar tilt to one side.

"Are you okay?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: A Coincidence [Part II]**

Rick walked briskly, aware of Sasha and Carl who were almost jogging to catch up with his stride, the former being the agent of alerting to the situation occurring just outside the infirmary. Thinking back, he should have expected this confrontation but everything else had been overshadowed by the fact that _she_ had purposefully lied to him. He wondered what else had been a lie.

At first, he had not wanted to believe her - of course he always suspected that she was hiding something, but the things she had said. _She even knew about Shane and Lori_ , he thought, with something akin to shock. They hadn't talked or been in each other's presence, it was certainly harder to explain to the likes of Carl, Maggie and Sasha why Michonne was avoiding them. They probably hadn't believed him when he denied knowing anything was amiss.

The grey sky and unseasonably humid weather should have been indication enough that things would come to a head. As if on cue the heavens opened up and a cold, light shower began to descend down upon the small crowd that was visible in the distance. The raised voices carried to Rick and the others causing them to jog the rest of the way.

Rick pushed through the crowd and as soon as he made it to the middle, he realized that he had made a mistake by alienating her after she had shared with him something so profoundly deep and hidden. The look in her eye was a familiar one, one he knew so well.

The silence that had held the people gathered in its awe as if a spell had been cast upon them stirred upon his arrival. They switched their gazes between Merle who lay prostrate on the ground, his eyes burning a hole in Michonne who appeared unaffected by the passionate look of hatred being sent her way. Rick didn't realize that someone was standing in front of him, busy as he was taking in the standoff before him.

"I told you Rick, I told you. She is not fit to lead, we-"

Rick didn't even get a chance to respond one way or the other, he watched apathetically as Beckett doubled over howling in pain. He spotted the grim look of satisfaction on Sasha's face as she shoved the man aside, her gaze focused on Michonne. No one even made a move to help him, not his wife or sister who could only stare at him helplessly.

Not aware of the new arrivals, Michonne thought it seemed only fitting and ironic that among the people who would witness Merle's downfall, were his own brother- who seemed to be the only one who gave a damn- and some members of Rick's group. Feeling reckless, she ignored the crossbow that was aimed at her head, Maggie who was attempting to diffuse the situation, the pain in her leg, the burning sensation in her ribs and the blood trickling from the cut on her cheek. She tuned out everything, her eyes pinning down the pathetic man at her feet.

"You don't want to do this, Michonne, he's not worth it".

Her head jerked up at the sound of Rick's voice, he looked decidedly terrible, his hair sticking to his forehead like that. There were bags under his eyes, his hair and beard looked unkempt- more so than usual. They hadn't talked and this was the first time they had been within touching distance of each other in the last three days. She thought it a little bit sad that her heart skipped a beat. Mindful that she had a task at hand, literally, she cut her perusal short refusing to engage with the thoughts that popped into her head. The grip she had on her sword tightened as her eyes lowered back to the ground where Merle lay almost defenseless. He flinched noticeably when she pressed the blade against his exposed neck.

* * *

 **Three days ago…**

She stood by the door waiting for him to return, she leaned back against the wall with her eyes closed and her hands folded against her chest. It had been easy, telling him that they needed to talk. Of course, he questioned the urgency of the matter but she had meet his gaze evenly and simply reiterated that needed to talk.

The door opened again and she cringed at the grating sound of Merle's voice, the calmness she had been feeling ebbed away. It took all her self-control to rein in the urge to barge into the room and kill him. At this point it was only fair to return the favor as he had tried to kill her first and on many numerous occasions. However, she was distracted by Rick, who stood by the doorway bathed in the light from within the room; he looked at her with an inscrutable expression and with a tilt of his head indicated that she should follow him.

As she followed just a few steps behind him- her way illuminated by the few streetlamps that they had- she thought about how she was going tell him about her connection to Merle, and in turn, Andrea. Looking at the back of his head and the curls that adorned it, she wondered what was going inside his mind. She couldn't help but wonder what he made of her behavior, knowing him; his paranoia was probably simmering on the surface. If she was honest with herself, she felt an odd combination of numbness and anxiety. There was no doubt he would be shocked by the reveal but with it he would most definitely be angry and whatever bubble of trust or friendship that had been growing between them would possibly deflate and shrivel to nothing. It's no use crying over spilt milk, her only fear was that he would exile her. She couldn't go back out there. She wouldn't.

Unaware that Rick had stopped walking, she walked into him, almost tripping over his feet and the only thing that prevented her from falling over were the hands that gripped both of her biceps and righted her balance and stance. He didn't let go of her, forcing her to look up at him. His head was bent as he tried to make eye contact, his brow furrowed in concern.

"You have me somewhat worried here...do you want to tell me what's going on?"

She stared at him, her mind transporting her back to the relatively lighthearted moments they had shared on his porch yesterday. She would miss that.

" _Michonne"_ he pressed, his fingers lightly digging into her skin.

She dislodged herself from his hold and took a conscious and physical step away from him, she noticed that they had been walking on the other side of the street and that he'd probably been heading back to his house. It probably wasn't a good idea to have the conversation or fight in the presence of Carl or Carol. They would know soon enough but right now, she just wanted to deal with one powerhouse.

In lieu of responding directly to his question, she pointed out that her house was closer and promptly headed over there before he could protest. Once they got into the house, no one made to sit down, Michonne too wired to sit, stood by the fireplace facing him. Rick, probably reading off of her demeanor chose to stand, the whole of the living room between them. His arms crossed at the chest and his gaze focused on her face.

Without much preamble, Michonne dove right in, figuring there was no right or wrong way to tell him and ignored the tightness in her throat. "There is no easy way to say this so I'm just going to come right out with it", she began, her voice sounding hoarse to her own ears, "I know that man in the infirmary, until today I didn't know he was related to Daryl…she never mentioned it before she died". She let that sink in and when it looked like he wanted to interrupt, she powered through wanting to get it over and done with. "I knew Andrea". She spoke to the carpeted floor. It should have like a weight dropping off of her shoulders but all she felt was the load becoming heavier, the longer the silence continued without him saying anything. She looked up and was startled by the unmoved expression on Rick's face, she'd expected more of a reaction.

"Rick…"

"Say that again", Rick said, his voice sharp with burgeoning disbelief and anger.

"We met after Hershel's farmhouse was invaded by walkers, she…Andrea, was stranded, injured, unable to defend herself and a bunch of walkers about to descend on her. I saved her". Her mind took her back to that meeting, Andrea had been lucky because Michonne had honestly stumbled upon her. She had changed directions on her journey so many times as she wandered aimlessly in those woods, her only goal to put enough distance between herself and the fire she had seen off in a distance. "And she saved me".

Rick took a step, and then another into the room, eating up the distance between them so that he stood outside of her undefined personal space. She stood her ground, resisting the urge to reach for her katana because the look on his face was reminiscent of the blood-drenched man she had met in the courtyard. She didn't fear him but knew if this turned into an actual physical fight, she would be ready to fight tooth and nail.

"Are you telling me that-", he rubbed his jaw against his shoulder. "Tell me something, did you know who I was when we met? Daryl when you rescued him? Did you?", he demanded.

"No, not at first, not until you introduced yourself did I realize you were the people she talked about", she explained calmly although she felt anything but settled, her heart pounded against her chest so loudly she palmed her chest, her other hand resting against her abdomen.

"Jesus!" Rick stared at her, wide eyed as he dropped into the couch not breaking eye contact, his back hitting the soft cushioning of the backrest with some force that the couch moved back slightly. He remained slight for a moment, seemingly computing what she had said then his eyes narrowed.

"I want you to tell me everything, no more bullshit, every fucking thing from Andrea, how she died, how you know Merle and how much information you had on me and my family before we met", he glared, the anger in his voice unmistakable.

Michonne bristled, he made it sound as if she was a creep that had stalked them. "I didn't plan to come here, I was just as shocked as you are right now", she pointed out. "I never anticipated or thought in a million years I would meet the subjects of Andrea's stories. _Stories_ ", she said with some emphasis.

Rick glowered at her, his lips pressed together into a thin line.

She heaved a sigh, taking the katana off her back and went to sit down on the couch across the room, _this is going to be a long night_ , she lamented. She could readily admit that she had brought this situation upon herself. So she told him everything as he asked, everything but Andre and Mike, that was firmly none of his business. When she got to Merle, recounting his involvement in all that happened, his transgressions against her.

"You hate him" Rick commented interrupting her, he didn't seem all that surprised. He leaned forward in his seat, his hand coming up to stall her. "That day with Beckett and his brood…the racist fuck you were talking about…"

"It was more than that, more than him making derogatory remarks, he hunted me down with his buddies and tortured me when I tried to escape." Michonne looked past him, at a point above his shoulder as she dredged up the memories, things she had never spoken out loud to anyone else. Part of her didn't understand why she was being transparent, with a frown she continued on, tasting bile on her tongue. "Andrea was in too deep, she didn't believe me when I told her about the Governor's operation, the more I tried to get her to see the truth, the more she dug in her heels and that's when I finally caught on that she was infatuated with him. She didn't care what he did on the side as long as it protected this seemingly wonderful place she could call home and had a man to love her. She was my friend and my sister but there was nothing I could do for her. So, one night, after careful planning, I left. I don't know how Merle found out but after a long fight, he dragged me back to Woodbury with the remaining members of his followers, a chain around my neck and bound hands. It was night time and past curfew so the only people out and about were the guards, he sent one of his cronies to get the Governor and in the meantime, he put me in a room and left me there, handcuffed to the table.

"At first nothing happened, just silence but I could hear movements on the other side of the wall. He came back moments later and beat me up until I was a bloody mess. I didn't fight back nor did I scream, there was no point, not then. I knew I would eventually get my opportunity for revenge and next tie, I wouldn't fail. The Governor came after, laughed in my face and told me to never attempt to escape ever again, next time, other parts of me would be violated". Michonne spat out, her eyes burning, she rubbed her forehead with both hands and they came down her cheeks and rested them together under her chin, her eyes reconnecting with Rick's. She took in his hardened expression not knowing what to make of it. Feeling like she needed a break, she got up suddenly.

"Do you want a drink", she offered. Rick shook his head, declining the offer. "No…well I need a drink, excuse me". When she got to the kitchen, she almost collapsed on the counter, it was hard not to feel like she was unraveling with every word she spoke. Walking over to the cabinets next to the fan situated above the stove, she grabbed a wine glass. The cup rattled when it made contact with the surface of the counter causing her to stare at her hands, they were shaking slightly. She interlaced her fingers, clasping them together tightly until the shaking subsided, all the while taking deep breathes in and out. "Shit, shit, shit, shit!" With alacrity, she moved towards the fridge, glass in hand and upon opening the door, she grabbed the only bottle of liquor in it. She poured a generous amount of the colorless liquid, all the while thinking that she didn't even like vodka but beggars couldn't be choosers. When her glass was full, she placed the bottle at her lips tipped the contents into her mouth, resisting the urge to spit it out. The single mouthful she had consumed hit the back of her throat, making her cough, it went down her throat and a small amount dribbled out of her mouth like a hot mess. Her eyes watered as she pulled the bottle away from her lips and glared at it, ignoring the urge to sink to the floor and just cry. _Not now Michonne, not when he is here_ , a voice that sounded oddly like Andrea's said it in her head. Her lips trembled as she swallowed another mouthful, still hating the sharp and bitter taste of it but it went down a lot easier than the first one had. She screwed the cap back on the still full bottle and placed it back into the fridge. Realizing that she may have taken a longer break than she should have and not wanting Rick to come into her kitchen, she took in another fortifying breath. Squaring her shoulders, she picked up her glass and walked back into the lion's den.

Rick turned his head to look at her when she came back into the room, their eyes making contact but his dropped to the cup in her hands and remained there until she sat back down on the couch. She crossed her legs at the knees and settled the glass full of liquid courage on her lap. Her eyes tracked her forefinger circling the rim of the wine glass. "There's nothing much more to say other than that", she said, picking up from where she had left off, her voice steady. "It took over a month until events aligned themselves in a way for me to strike, fortunately Andrea somehow found out about what happened to me. We worked together to plan our escape but we both knew we wouldn't get far with the Governor and his lapdog breathing down our necks. One night, the opportunity presented itself, somehow the Governor got wind of it. There was a fight, he…she died and I killed him and made my escape. One of his men saw me, I thought I was dead for sure but he let me go and I never looked back".

With a heartfelt sigh, she brought the glass to her lips and took a sip, her eyes finding his to gauge his reaction, he looked pained. She assumed it was at the loss of Andrea and what he said next confirmed her assumptions.

"Jesus! All this time, I…we thought she died back on the farm but all that time-" He stopped himself, shaking his head. He sat forward, his elbows resting on his thighs, his fingers interlaced and touching his mouth. He stared at her without saying anything.

Michonne shrugged, unable to respond or comment.

"I have other questions", Rick stated.

Michonne laughed humorlessly. "I've told you everything, Rick, what more is there to say?" Her free hand gripped the armrest when Rick suddenly rose to his feet and started pacing before her. Just as quickly he stopped and turned sharply on his heel to face her, his head cocked to the side as he seemingly measured her worth with his piercing gaze.

"I think, I'll be the one to decide when we are finished", Rick declared dismissively. "So, Andrea, told you everything about us…our fighting style, our strengths and weakn-"

Had he not been listening? "Nothing like that!" She almost screamed, she loosened her grip on the glass and leaned forward to set it down on the table. "What would have been the fucking point?", she griped.

"You tell me", he challenged, his eyes narrowed down at her.

Throwing her hands in the air. " _Stories_ ", she stressed, "about how you two met, about the group, her sister, that you were such a stand-up guy and your wife was cheating on you with your best friend…" She hadn't meant to say the last bit, it was pointless and hurtful to bring it up at all. She didn't miss the way his eyes darkened, the muscle that ticked in his jaw and the way his hands twitched. An apology stuck in her throat and remained lodged to the roof of her mouth, unable to find the words she needed in that moment.

"And the man that shot at us at the supermarket, you had nothing to do with that?"

It was her turn to glare at him, refusing to answer one way or another.

He resumed pacing and she followed his movements with her eyes.

"One last thing for tonight", Rick spoke, his back turned to her. "If Merle hadn't shown up, were you ever going to tell me, I mean", he turned around, his hand pushing back on the curls that were on his forehead. There was something open and earnest about his gaze that hadn't been there since the revelation. "Were you every going to tell us about all this?"

She opened her mouth to answer and closed it again without saying anything, she couldn't help but feel that this moment felt pivotal in how things would progress. "No"

"I see"

Michonne immediately could almost feel the walls come up, knowing that whatever he would say next, would probably be some sort of ultimatum. Not wanting to be at even more of a height disadvantage, she stood up.

"I want you to go about your duties as normal as I think about this and I…", he licked his lips, his hands buried deep in his pockets. "I want you to stay away from my people, no social visits or anything beyond discussing the running of the community".

Her eyes widened, unable to believe what he had said. "What?"

"You purposefully deceived me, you betrayed my trust!" Rick bellowed breathing harshly, his chest expanding from the force of his words.

A beat of silence passed between them where they gazed at each other. Rick's eyes examined the features of her face intensely as if committing them to memory.

"I have to go", he said gruffly.

Michonne stared unseeingly at the empty space he had just vacated for a long while after he was gone. She didn't realize that she had moved until she was gulping down the rest of the vodka and smashing the glass into the wall that woke her up to her movements. Wiping at her eyes, she refused her brain's attempt to deal with what had just happened. Deciding to go to bed, she walked carefully around the broken shards and made her way upstairs.

* * *

 **Present day…**

"He tried to kill me", she spoke in a steady voice, belying the internal turmoil she felt inside and the pain radiating throughout her body from her bruised ribs and the gash on her left leg courtesy of the asshole's pirate hook.

"And I should have!" Merle retorted furiously, momentarily forgetting that he had a sharp object pressing into his skin.

Suddenly her countenance changed and she glowered with menace. "Stop talking".

The events that led up to this moment were hazy. Merle had been in the infirmary all this time, since his arrival a few days ago. She had been coming from her shift outside the wall, walking with determination with the intention of confronting Rick, tired of feeling like she didn't belong. Hating him for making her feel that way, especially having to avoid the relationships she had formed. Merle had been making his way down the stairs, a smirk on his face. Seeing him outside the confines the building, free and untethered by the need of a guard or someone breathing down his neck had made her see red and she had been upon him in a blink of an eye.

"What is she talking about man?", Daryl yelled. "And drop your weapon, Michonne, if you know what's good for ya", he threatened.

The situation was getting out of hand, the Alexandrians' looked both worried and fascinated by what Rick deemed a private matter. He made eye contact with Daryl, urging him with his hands to stand down, there was an obstinate look in Daryl's eyes but he eventually and reluctantly lowered his weapon.

Rick turned and spoke to the crowd. "I want every one of you to return to your homes", he ordered. "Collect supplies for tomorrow from the pantry in case the weather gets worse. Go". When nobody made a move to leave, he bared his teeth at them and almost growled. "I said, fucking, go!"

"Dad?" Carl called out to him.

"We are all going to talk, but in private, there is something we need to talk about" he glanced at Michonne. "Go home and tell Carol what happened and get back to the infirmary." With Carl gone, he approached Michonne, he touched her sword arm lightly as he spoke to her softly. "Let go", he pleaded, "let go and I promise to give you what you need".

 _What she needed? How would he know what she needed?_

"You didn't kill him", he pointed out, "you could've. I know you think you want to kill him, the things you told me, I wouldn't blame you".

Michonne remained tight lipped, trying valiantly to ignore the truth in his words. She'd been angry for so long, it seemed almost painful to relinquish the opportunity to exact her revenge.

"You are angry right now but is this how you want to end it?"

Michonne hesitated, then slowly withdraw her weapon as she backed away cautiously. She handed the katana over to Sasha and made her way up the stairs, into the infirmary acutely aware of the others following her inside.

Rick watched her walk off into the infirmary, Maggie and Sasha following closely behind her, Carl not too far away either. He no longer felt as angry as he did three days ago, in fact, time away from her had been a revelation.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** Absolutely no words can express how sorry I am for the delayed update, even I cannot believe it but the honest truth is I lost my mojo. I just wasn't motivated to write. But getting through this chapter bit by bit has helped, and all the inspiration out there has lit that fire again. Thank you to all the reviews, follows, and love for the story. I sincerely hope the next chapter won't be this **_late_**. I would like to thank my fellow Richonner and friend, Audrey, for reading through this chapter and editing any glaring errors. I also want to clarify a concern that some of you had about the previous chapter in regards to M, if she was sexually assaulted and the answer is no.

Enjoy

* * *

 **Chapter 10: Need**

She had been angry and miserable since the disastrous talk with Rick and it wasn't all that hard to pinpoint the reason behind her dismal mood. The ultimatum had been a difficult pill to swallow since it meant being an outsider again and losing those friendships she initially fought against forming. The look of betrayal on his face had stayed with her in her dreams that night making for a sleepless night. Getting into it with Merle had been cathartic on more than one level - other than exacting revenge - for a few moments she forgot that she was alone, again.

Now, coming down from the rush and tension of the fight, she felt a headache blossoming across her forehead, a dull throb that seemed to worsen with each passing moment. They had all gathered in the part of the infirmary where the beds and medical equipment were stationed. Michonne chose to sit near the entrance, she focused on her hands that were smudged with blood and dirt. Feeling the bed dip on either side of her, she looked up curiously and felt relief when it turned out to be Carl and Maggie. The sound of the door closing alerted her to the impending interrogation.

"You knew Andrea?"

Without looking around, she was acutely aware that they were all staring at her. She heaved a sigh and was soon reminded of the bruises she had sustained during the fight. Making eye contact with Maggie she nodded her head in response to her question

"Yep, she did," Merle jumped in. She could tell from the glee in his voice that he was enjoying the myriad looks of disbelief and shock around him.

"But how is that even possible?" Carl wondered from her left.

Merle bared his teeth unpleasantly as he leaned forwards. "My Nubian queen here," he spat, "and Blondie spent all winter last year cuddling up in the forest. They had two pet walkers with them - no arms, cut off the jaws, kept them in chains. Kinda disturbing ain't it?"

Unwilling to sit through his snide commentary, Michonne stood up suddenly and finally looked to Rick who sat two beds away from her. He turned his head in her direction, his hair looked even worse plastered to his forehead. A small part of her found it a little appealing especially with the small beard that couldn't decide if it wanted to be neat or scruffy. As soon as the errant thoughts slipped into her mind, she chastised herself, the separation made her realize how much their friendship had changed, at least on her part. That attraction she had valiantly tried to ignore then acknowledged in hopes of it dissipating had grown without her say so. It wasn't only the physical that appealed to her, even though he was frighteningly stubborn, dangerous, arrogant and rude; he was also protective with his family, caring, gentle, hardworking and resourceful.

Blushing, she worked to hide her inner thoughts from showing on her face as she stared at Rick, she could hear Merle still talking in the background and her thoughts became much more hostile.

"I've done what you asked but I don't want to be anywhere near him right now." She turned to Carl, Maggie and Sasha, giving them meaningful looks before she picked her way out of the room and out the door, ignoring the protests and demands behind her.

It might have been childish for all her thirty-five years of age to react this way to his presence but after everything she had been through, she was entitled to not willingly subjecting herself to bullshit.

 **888**

Carl had just left, she watched him for a moment as he ran across the street, jumping over puddles as he made his way home. The world felt right again and the soft laughter that drifted from the living room cemented that and drew her focus. Closing the door softly she thought that it was almost hard to believe the bleakness of the past few days in contrast to the relief and warmth she felt when she opened the door to see her visitors.

"I'm surprised to hear you guys laughing considering..." Michonne raised an eyebrow at the two women sitting on the carpeted floor, their bodies resting against the sturdy table and almost empty mugs of coffee before them. "Or did you guys slip something into your drinks?" Lowering herself gingerly to the floor, she took a sit next to Maggie and her eyebrows flew into her hairline at Sasha when the former giggled.

Sasha grinned mischievously and took a whiff of Maggie's mug. "Yeah, must be the caffeine hit considering it's been a while. Daryl came through-"

The warm atmosphere that had bathed them in its glow since they had shown up at her door about an hour ago somewhat dissipated. Michonne curled her hands around her mug but didn't bring it to her lips. She chewed on her lip nervously as she watched them.

"I'm sorry for lying to you guys," she apologized softly.

"I don't see it that way, Michonne," Maggie countered, drawing her knees up to her chest, "there was nothing malicious about what you did, you were protecting yourself and I cannot find fault in that. I found out later about what happened in the courtyard with Pete and Reg. I don't blame you for wanting nothing to do with us".

Pleasantly surprised by the intuitive deduction of her actions, Michonne couldn't help but point out wryly, "That's not how Rick saw it".

Sasha gave her a pitying look as if to say; _did you expect any different_?

"It makes so much sense now that I think about it. Why you wanted to leave the following day I mean," Maggie continued contemplatively. "And finding us so unexpectedly must have been a bit unnerving?"

Sasha threw her head back and laughed. When she saw the looks Michonne and Maggie were giving her, she tried to temper the flow of giggles. "Unnerving for Michonne or Rick?" she asked.

Maggie's lips twitched. "Yeah but he's really mellowed out now, hasn't he?"

"Significantly so," Sasha agreed thoughtfully, leaning against the table facing them both, "although, I wasn't too happy about his ultimatum." Sasha looked at Michonne, frowning. "That wasn't his call to make; in fact, you should have come to us and told us what a nasty piece of work Daryl's brother is, instead of leaving us in the dark wondering why you were icing us out".

Michonne swallowed some of her still warm coffee, thinking about how emotional they'd both been that night. "I didn't think," she said, tapping two fingers above her right eyebrow. "I understand why he reacted that way, he was so angry and... hurt," she revealed honestly. "I think I let him lay down the law because I was afraid he would grab me and toss me out of the gates that same night." She stared unseeingly at the table. "Right at the beginning it made so much sense to leave. I tried and then after, I tried distancing myself but that didn't work either. I had become curious. Rick and I started getting along too, shockingly so. I knew it would be worse if Merle got to him first".

There was a murmur of agreement from her friends and no one immediately ventured to fill the silence when she stopped talking. Michonne was absorbed in her own thoughts, her mind drifted treacherously to the leader of their community. The way Rick had talked to her that afternoon made it seem like he had got past his anger or it could have been him trying to prevent her murdering his best friend's brother.

 _What she needed?_ That's what he'd said leaving her feeling a little displaced and confused. _Indeed, what did he know about her needs?_ And why had that worked, why had she listened to him? She had been ready to end it there and then, damn the consequences. The questions swirled around in her mind and she almost missed the fact that Sasha was talking to her.

"How do you feel?" Sasha asked again, resting her head on the arm that was resting on the table.

With a sigh, Michonne shrugged. "I've been living in this constant state of uncertainty since I came here, you know?" Maggie and Sasha nodded gravely, silent as they waited for her to continue. "Do I stay or do I go? Should I tell you this secret that kept me closed off? Does it even matter anymore? The questions were endless." She stared into the dark contents of the cup, a finger played along the rim. Living like that had been draining, having to watch what she said in case she gave herself away.

"And now," Maggie prodded gently, resting her head against her folded legs as she watched Michonne closely.

"I don't miss what was before, that wasn't living. In a way, I'm glad that Rick stopped me; things would have turned out a whole lot different, me dead with an arrow in my chest." She swallowed the painful lump in her throat, her thoughts not only going to Andrea, but also to the memory of her precious Peanut. "I feel like I can start again, properly this time," she confessed shakily, her voice full of repressed emotions.

In unison, Maggie uncurled and shifted closer giving Michonne a one-armed hug, her cheeks flushed and her eyes bright. Sasha shuffled forward and leaned across the table to clasp Michone's hand tightly, her eyes suspiciously wet. After a moment of silence, the huddle broke apart and they all laughed.

"Look at us, all weepy and shit," Sasha complained good-naturedly, surreptitiously wiping at her cheeks, "what we need is chocolate or ice-cream and some good music".

Feeling lighter than she had in months or a year since Woodbury, Michonne rose to her feet, a little grin playing on her lips. "No ice-cream but I may have a little something-something. As for the second request, I'm still doing inventory of this house, come and check out the attic with me, maybe we can find something".

* * *

Although she had not expected any of them to show up at her doorstep with torches and pitchforks for what had transpired yesterday, it was just overwhelming how much nothing had changed. They still talked and engaged with her as they had before. Abraham had crept up on her that morning as she left her house to start the day, bumping shoulders with her to get her attention and walking with her to the wall.

" _Don't feel too bad, Samurai Queen, Eugene_ takes _the cake for the Washington thing. Besides, I like a little mystery_ ".

She had no clue what the 'Washington thing', was referring to and he didn't give her a chance to ask before leaving, heading towards the armory whistling brightly as if in competition with the warm weather that had graced them that morning. Belatedly, she couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable and exposed. By now, everyone in Rick's family knew of her _unpleasant_ history with Merle. The most shocking of all encounters was Carol, though she had been somewhat smug when they had crossed paths, stopping briefly to talk but never making a reference to the big reveal. Michonne didn't know what to make of it; she figured eventually there would be some sort of confrontation. The only people she had not seen yet were Rick, Daryl and Merle - and that probably was a good thing really.

When lunch time rolled around, she had just finished her final class of the day so she placed all the blades back into a shopping trolley and made her way towards the armory. She was surprised to see Eric sitting in the designated office area having expected Olivia to still be there. Thinking nothing of it, she returned his friendly greeting as she signed the weapons back in. When he stood up to store them, she stared at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Is it just you here?" she said, casually.

Eric grabbed thick gloves lying on the table and approached the trolley. "I started my shift a little bit earlier. Tara will be back in a few minutes so don't tell Rick that we left the place, one man, short," he pleaded with his body visibly shuddering. "Olivia was sniffling and coughing all over the place, the poor thing didn't look good. It appears she got caught up in the rain yesterday…"

The searching tone in his voice gave Michonne pause and she slowly lowered the pen back on to the log book. Straightening, she fixed him with a look that dared him to continue in that vein.

An awkward silence settled between them, he smiled kindly and bid her a good day as he pushed the trolley out of the room. Michonne stood alone in the office for a moment feeling bad for being rude when he had always been nice to her. Maybe she was being too sensitive, at her core really, she was a private person. Her only consolation was that outside of Rick's family, no one really knew the details of yesterday's drama. In a community like this, things did have a way of coming out, though if any of the finer details were to spread, she knew who the culprit would be. Feeling her mood turn sour she stormed out of the building and made her way home barely noticing people stepping out of the way as she went.

She was so consumed with her thoughts that she almost jumped when a hand landed on her shoulder as she went to turn the door handle. Working on instinct, she grabbed the arm with both hands and whirled around to face her assailant, twisting the offending limb at the elbow as she went. When she spied who her assailant was, she loosened her grip immediately but found herself pressed against the door seconds later with her back to the wood. Rick towered over her slightly and the look in his eyes pinned her in place more than the fingers that pressed her hands firmly on to the flat wooden surface.

For all the space that was between them, they might as well have been touching because he filled her senses with his body, his hands, his heat, his natural scent. With nowhere else to look, her gaze flickered here and there, however, she didn't miss the downward dip of his eyes. The action stunned her so much she urged herself to push him away. She pushed against his hold and he took a step back. A tense silence settled over them for what felt like an eternity, her mind searched for something to say but words escaped her.

"Can I come in?" he asked, looking past her shoulder.

"What do you want?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest defensively. She could not show her annoyance - illogical as it was - that she had been affected by their little _scuffle_. Judging from Rick's cool stance, one hand at his waist the other resting over his Colt, it seemed she was the only one.

"Is this before or after you assaulted me?" he countered, in a deadpan voice.

She looked down, willing her lips to not betray her as they curled up at the corners. "Before"

Michonne hesitated, the last time that Rick had been in her house; things hadn't turned out so well. Now that she thought about it, they had never had a pleasant conversation in her home.

As if he could hear her thoughts, he rubbed the back of his neck and peered at her. "I shouldn't have done that. I just wanna talk, I won't take up too much of your time," he coaxed.

Sensing that this conversation was inevitable whether she agreed to have it now or push for later, she walked into the house leaving the door wide open. He followed behind her, she briefly considered stopping in the living room but looking at their track record it felt like a bad omen for them to talk in there so she made her way to the kitchen. Heading over to the fridge, she grabbed two large bowels of left over rice and beef stew from the day before and deposited them on the counter. The sound of a kitchen stool being moved on the tiled floor behind her wasn't enough to make her lose focus but she did look at him when she grabbed a plate from the cupboard.

"Have you eaten?" she asked, breezily.

"Not yet but I'm good," he declined her offer. "I was actually heading home to eat with Carl and Judy when I saw you".

She dished out her food and heated it up.

"You seem better," Rick began conversationally as she sat down across from him on the other side of the table. "Physically," he amended.

Michonne made a sound of agreement and started eating, focusing on her plate, waiting for the real conversation to begin. Her eyes darted up to him curiously when she heard him heave a sigh.

"I wanted to talk to you about Merle" his eyes were focused on his wedding ring which he was slowly twisting around and around. "As much as I want to kick him out right now, I can't. He's Daryl's brother. I had to make a decision." He looked up finally meeting her eyes.

Michonne glowered at him, gripping her fork tightly, knowing instinctively that she wasn't going to like whatever he had to say.

"I've put him on house arrest," he soldiered on, his face grim. "He will be staying with Daryl; he cannot leave the confines of the house without his brother. He knows to stay out of your way." He broke away from her stare, reaching up to run a hand through his curls. "But you have to give me your word you won't go after him" he finished cautiously, looking at her.

"Give you...give you my word?" Michonne laughed humourlessly, throwing the cutlery on to the plate and pushing away from the table to stand up. She pointed in the general direction of the exit. "Get. Out."

"Hey," Rick cried, also jumping to his feet. "I'm on your side!" he said, his finger stabbing the tabletop, his face red as a vein made an appearance on his forehead.

"You are on my side?" Michonne echoed, indignant. "Is that why you stopped me from killing him?"

Rick marched around the barrier that separated them and stood at arm's length away from her. "I did that for you and Daryl, _not_ for Merle," he growled, his eyes boring into her almost daring her to deny the validity of his words.

All of the anger that had consumed her at his _request_ w _ent_ right _out of her, h_ ad she not said the same thing to Maggie and Sasha last night? Sighing, she sank back into her chair and almost didn't notice him taking a sit next to her. Fishing her fork out from the middle of the plate where she had thrown it haphazardly, she flicked the bits of rice stuck on the stainless steel. Sensing his watchful gaze, she looked up.

"It didn't take us long to break the terms of our truce, did it?" he said dryly.

Michonne flinched, recalling how that moment had been a turning point in their relationship. "You mean because I lied to you," she retorted bitterly, looking away from him.

Rick sat back in his chair, absentmindedly twisting the golden band around his middle finger again. "Probably. I keep on thinking that you should have said something but I guess you had your reasons. Have you noticed that for the most part, we are always fighting?"

"Maybe that's just us…," she ventured, her eyes drawn momentarily to a significant piece of jewellery she sometimes forgot he still wore.

He frowned and Michonne got the distinct sense that he was disappointed and what he said next confirmed just as much.

"I don't agree," he shrugged. "At some point in time we are going to be friends", he said self-assuredly.

Whether it was his prediction or his cockiness that did it, she felt the tension and stress she had been under seep out of her as she burst out laughing. She tried to contain herself but mirth bubbled forth from her lips almost hysterically when she spied his lips twitching into a grin.

When she calmed down, her mind took on a more analytical tone of the problem that was Merle.

"What is it?" Rick asked.

"Daryl can't stay with him forever, what happens when he needs to go on runs?" she pointed out. "And even if you put another guard on him, it is not a solution for the long term."

"Yeah," he agreed, rubbing his jaw and exhaling, "I know".

Unsatisfied with his answer, she asked, "Did he say what he was doing so far away from Woodbury, injured?"

Rick shook his head. "No and I wouldn't believe a word out of his mouth either," he added.

He left shortly after that, reminding her that his children were waiting for him and she saw him out, feeling a little better about where they stood, which was somewhere between being almost friends to people who just happened to live in the same community. It was certainly more than she had expected from him after their last disastrous argument.

* * *

It wasn't until a couple of weeks later that she realized she had not asked Rick what he meant about her _needs_.

In addition to Merle's continued presence in Alexandria that had distracted her. The asshole really was just everywhere granted Daryl made the occasional appearances to game nights or planned dinners that her friends invited her to. For the most part, she ignored his presence but was always vigilant and ready in case he jumped her. He was relatively less abrasive and she took joy in the fact that he looked uncomfortable in these settings that he would sit off to the side with a bottle of beer in hand, watching them with a scowl on his face.

Glenn approached her after such a night with a proposal to join him, Rosita and Heath on a run that would last them at least two to three days as they needed to go out even further for supplies. Without much hesitation, she'd readily agreed, relishing the prospect of being away from home for a few days and all the while suspecting Maggie's hand in setting this up.

The trip had taken two days and it had been successful if not tiring, glad that they were all returning home in one piece. It was touch and go at their last stop; the walkers had seemingly appeared from thin air and descended upon them in waves. It was divine intervention combined with pure luck that saved their stupid asses. It was early in the morning when she spied the walled community up ahead and the sight of it made her smile. They were filthy and sleepy having driven all night just to make it back home, Rosita now commandeering the vehicle at a frighteningly dangerous speed. The hair at the back of her neck prickled as she sensed that someone was watching her. Looking to her right, she found Glenn staring at her, baffled, she quirked an eyebrow at him.

"You were awesome with that blade," he complimented her, pointing to the katana, "and fast getting in and out of places. If you want, you can talk to Rick about switching to the supply crew."

Taken aback, she opened her mouth to respond then closed it, not having expected him to make such a suggestion.

"Think about it and let me know," he suggested.

"No, no, I do not need to." She had gotten into a routine, waking up in the morning to do some yoga and then have her training sessions with the Alexandrians. After that, she helped outside the wall. Lately, she had been thinking about asking Sasha to help her with shooting a sniper rifle. She wanted to do more to help around and protect the place so this was the perfect opportunity. "I'll do it."

He grinned and faced her, thrusting his right hand between them, Michonne chuckled extending her hand. He gripped her forearm and she did the same in a warrior's handshake, wondering if this is what Maggie had in mind when she told Glenn to ask her to come on this run.

 **888**

"I hear that you guys brought back a good haul." Rick motioned for her to walk out of the door first.

She had gone up to catch up with Maggie and Sasha sometime after waking up and having an early dinner. They had mentioned that Rick and Daryl had argued, apparently Merle wanted his brother to return to Woodbury with him. The argument had been a cause of contention between the two, Rick once again apprehensive at the idea of Daryl leaving, and the latter caught between the demands of Rick and Merle.

They hadn't been talking for long when Rick showed up with Glenn then proceeded to sit down with them for an impromptu get together. Having not seen him in two days, she threw an appreciative glance in his direction as he greeted Sasha, he'd shaved leaving just a trace of dark stubble along his jaw.

When she announced that she was leaving, Rick had stood up with her and said his goodbyes too. Sasha threw her a loaded look and she shrugged in response as she turned to leave. It didn't have to mean anything that Rick was choosing that moment to leave as she seemed to suggest with her expressive eyes.

Their houses where in opposite direction, so when they descended the porch stairs, Michonne turned to him to bid him a goodnight but his finger curled around her elbow and nudged her gently to keep walking. She stood there slack-jawed and motionless for a second staring at him as he went past her, still feeling the warmth of his hand where he had touched her. He was walking in the opposite direction of where his house was located.

He was walking towards her home.

"Glenn mentioned that you might want to join the supply crew?" Rick continued.

That propelled her to move forward and walk in step with him. "Yeah." She cleared her throat. "He said to talk to you about that".

Ricked looked at her as they crossed the street. "It's up to you. On the days that you are not here, someone else will take over your duties or you can branch out and do other things." He trailed off, sounding thoughtful.

Afraid that he would bring up working in the infirmary again with Jessie, she mentioned her plans with Sasha. Rick stopped walking in the middle of the dimly lit street and she followed suit, his gaze was steady as it fixed upon her face when she looked up. Her breath caught in her throat at the openly pleased expression on his face. The soft look in his eyes made her feel like she'd been pumped full of adrenaline, leaving her breathless and her stomach tied up in knots.

"What?" she whispered, her voice sounding strange to her own ears.

"Just… I was wrong." Rick took a step closer, eating up the remaining distance between them, their bodies almost touching reminiscent of when he had pushed her against the door. Michonne watched his hand extending towards her and touch her hair lying against her neck, his finger brushed lightly against her skin, making her tremble.

His eyes dropped to her neck and lingered there. "All this time, I thought convincing you to stay and watching you make a home for yourself, it felt like I was reliving my own experiences. I'm sorry that I constantly threatened to take that away from you. That was wrong, it was arrogant and cruel but somehow it made you fight that much harder. I thought I was giving you what you needed but it's been you all along." Rick smiled, his eyes finally focusing on hers, their warmth drawing her in. "Giving me what I _need_."

They stood motionless beneath the night sky, Michonne felt a multitude of emotions slamming into her all at once at his confession. Impulsively, she leaned forward with her eyes closed and pressed her lips against his cheek for several seconds before pulling away.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N** : Heartfelt apologies for the long wait. I had to regroup and think about where I was taking this story. I know some of you are eagerly anticipating Richonne but as I said, this is a slow burn. Will get there very soonish. Thank you guys for your patience and lovely messages of support. Thanks to Audrey for pointing out glaring mistakes

* * *

Chapter 11

Michonne drew back slowly, torn between wanting to chase that impulse and press her lips against his, just for a taste. Her eyes widened marginally at her train of thoughts and she hastily stepped away from him.

"Michonne?" Rick's hand fell at his side when she backed away out of reach. "Hey…"

Unable to meet his gaze, she looked somewhere over his shoulder. "I have...its kinda getting late and I'm meeting Sasha in the morning."

"Well, ok," Rick said, slowly and hesitantly. "Are you ok?"

Michonne met his concerned gaze and almost faltered but pasted a smile onto her face. "I'm fine, why?"

Rick opened and closed his mouth seemingly lost for words, then sighed, "Nothing I guess, well, goodnight," he finally said.

"Night," Michonne responded, hating the stilted atmosphere between them.

She was the first one to leave, walking at her steady pace and refusing to look back. Michonne found her self standing at her door so deep in thought that she hardly realized she was home.

Michonne closed her eyes, her forehead resting against the door as she tried to settle her thoughts. Her mind kept on replaying the way he'd gently touched her hair, the way her skin had tingled beneath his fingertips and his whispered words, _'giving_ _me what I need'._ A shiver ran down her spine and she bit back a moan.

It was no use denying that she had been seconds away from kissing him and though enjoyable, it would have been a bad idea in the long run. They'd been at odds for so long; the Andrea thing on her part and his apology for the way he'd treated her went a long way in mending their friendship. She didn't want to ruin that or her relationship with Carl or with any of his extended family.

Michonne let out a shaky breath, uncertain about what she would do. She let herself into the house and navigated her way in the darkness to the stairs, and up to her room. The handle of the katana peeking under the pillow caught her eye as she changed into her nightwear and her brows knitted together. There was also the infuriating matter of Merle's continued presence in Alexandria. Rick had made that decision, a decision she didn't agree or was happy with.

* * *

Even though she overslept, Michonne was still rubbing sleep from her eyes as she made her way out of the house. Her dreams had been a combination of sweat sleeked bodies, rubbing and grinding against each other. Nightmarish moments were Rick ruthlessly exiled her, his cold voice instructing Merle to close the gates of Alexandria in her face, needless to say it made for a restless night.

Finding the man himself half-sitting on her porch railing so early in the morning, making unintelligible conservation with a bright-eyed Judith and a red solo cup in his hand, gave her pause. The sun's golden rays basking them in a cliché like beautiful glow almost made her roll her eyes at the universe's idea of a joke.

"What are-" She began only to stop abruptly when she also heard him talking at the same time.

"Wanted to catch you before-" Rick paused and smiled sheepishly. Judith who was studying her father's every reaction with a curious look in her eye, burst into giggles.

They stared at each other in silence that most likely lasted for just a second in reality but felt longer in her mind.

Michonne could feel her cheeks burning, the more intimate moments of her dreams attempted to push themselves to the forefront of her mind.

She was determined to act like nothing was amiss, that his unexpected presence and the inviting picture he made with his beautiful baby did not stir up any longing or memories within her.

Michonne gestured with her sheathed weapon in the general direction of the stairs. "I'm meeting up with Sasha…am probably running late."

Rick stood up and approached her slowly, holding his daughter protectively against his side. "So you said last night. We were passing by and wanted to wish you a good morning." He held her haze, his eyes searching hers. "And I wanted to check on you..."

 _After you ran off last night,_ remained unsaid but there was no doubt in her mind that's what he was thinking. Michonne looked away from him to the already bustling community with a sigh, torn between explaining her behaviour but also not comfortable revealing her thoughts and feeling to him just yet. From the corner of her eye, she saw him stiffen, his back ramrod straight and Judith began to fuss as if sensing the tension.

Michonne felt some relief when she heard her name being called, she walked around him to check, sliding the strap of the katana over her head as she went. Upon spying Sasha waving at her a few houses down the street, two long-range rifles on each shoulder. She waved back and indicated with a raised finger that she wouldn't be long.

Michonne turned back to face the unhappy father and daughter duo and she relented. "Look, I meant to say thank you, what you said last night meant a lot to me and after everything, _I_ _needed_ to hear that".

Rick casually handed the solo cup to Judith who immediately relaxed and started gnawing at it, his lips twisted into a humourless smile. "But?"

"Merle." She waited but when he didn't say anything and just fixed her with a look of displeasure, she shrugged and made to leave.

"Hey..." She felt his fingers putting pressure on upper her arm and letting go when she halted her progress down the stairs. "I came here because everyone is coming over for dinner." She opened and closed her mouth, intending to decline his invitation and he probably could tell because he immediately followed up with, "That's if you want to?"

"Rick, I can't be in-"

"Carl misses you," he cajoled.

Michonne laughed a little bit in disbelief, puzzled by the level of effort he was putting into it. "Well, I can't argue with that," she conceded, "I'll be there." She nodded, turned and walked away.

 **888**

"But, _Cherry Ripe_?" Carl bleated, his voice projecting his disbelief.

Michonne laughed. "You almost sound offended, it's actually nice," she insisted.

Carl shook his head. "Why would anyone want chocolate mostly filled with fruit. It's not even chocolate!"

They'd been taking turns playing a lighthearted version of twenty questions and Carl's turn had descended into an argument over their favourite foods.

Michonne took a sip of her juice thoughtfully. "Ok, ok, my turn." Carl's raised his eyebrow expectantly. "If you could have any magical power, what would it be?"

Carl went quiet, a frown appearing on his face. Michonne was taken aback at the dark look that flashed in his eyes before his gaze fixated on the table. Confused, she caught Rick's eye directly across the table and he also seemed just as lost.

Rick himself had been quiet all night, unlike the man who had showed up to her house that morning. He'd been the one to let her into the house that evening- clad in a black shirt with its long sleeves rolled up to the elbows and a familiar pair of jeans- the two had not had a moment to finish their talk. It had taken her the whole day to come to the conclusion that leaving things unsaid between them only fostered further misunderstandings. Currently, they had an issue in common so that's where she would start as soon as the opportunity arose.

Returning her focus back to Carl, she sensed that her question had unwittingly dredged up a painful memories for him.

Michonne tried to rectify her mistake. "It's not a magical power or anything but if I could turn my katana into a lightsaber, that would be really cool," she ventured carefully. Her efforts were rewarded with a slow smile that grew as Carl looked up at her. "Just imagine, walkers cooked to perfection," she carried on.

"Ewww, gross," Carl yelled, laughing.

When he wasn't looking, Michonne exchanged a relieved look with Rick.

"Really Michonne, Star Wars, really?" Glenn chimed in from where he sat next to Maggie, causing everyone to join in on their conversation as they ventured to talk about movies.

After that the night progressed relatively smoothly after that with only one hiccup. Carl had tried to pass Judith off into her arms but Michonne pretended not to notice until he was forced to hand her over to his father.

Later on in the evening, when almost everyone else had gone and there was a lull in the conversation, Michonne stood up from her chair and piled the dirty dishes for her to take to the kitchen.

Trying to gather her thoughts for the conversation she needed to have with Rick, Michonne concentrated on filling the sink with warm water and squirted some dishwashing liquid into it. She gathered her locs up into a bun and used a scrunchy from the pocket of her pants to hold it in place. Familiar sun-kissed arms came into her line of vision as they dipped more plates into the water, he wiped his hands with a dish rag and leaned against the counter.

"You don't have to do that," Rick said, softly.

Michonne glanced over at him, he was playing with the dish rag pulling at the fraying strands of fabric, his brow furrowed. "It's the least I can do". She flicked the tap shut, squeezed some more soap onto a sponge and grabbed a plate. She was on her third plate, covering it up in soapy suds before she spoke again. "Are you okay?" She felt his probing gaze land on the side of her face.

"You've done a lot for me tonight".

Michonne cocked her head at him, questioningly.

"I've not heard Carl talk that much or laugh like that in a long time," Rick confided and held her gaze. "Thank you," he said, his voice gravelly, suffused with strong emotions.

Overwhelmed by his sincerirty and not trusting herself to speak, she nodded.

Rick grabbed a plate from the other sink and proceeded to wipe it down.

Michonne gasped and reacted without forethought, she grasped his wiping hand, halting its movements and blinked up at him.

Rick looked from her face to their joined hands and back to her face in apparent confusion. "What?"

"No," Michonne laughed disbelievingly, "you, what are you doing?" She said with some emphasis and stared at the plate in his hands. "Aren't you going to rinse that first?"

"No…"

Michonne caught his lips twitching which turned into a full-blown, playful smile.

"You should have seen your face," he sniggered.

Michonne slapped the hand that she had been holding, the sombreness of their earlier mood forgotten in light of his teasing mood. "It's unsanitary," she grumbled good-naturedly. She had to bite her cheek to keep from smiling too wildly and turned back to her task with haste.

"Right". His laughter petered out then gave way to a sigh, he turned to face her. "I told Daryl that Merle had to leave by the end of the week, his leg is mostly healed and we'll give him a supply of food, and a knife. It's more kindness than he deserves". He paused while rinsing off the soap suds from one of the plates. "I wanted to kill him when you told me what he did to you" he spoke candidly. He pushed away from the counter and started pacing. "Then Daryl tells me his brother wants him to return to Woodbury with him, like hell he is!" His eyes flashed in her direction.

Michonne watched him as he continued to pace the length of the kitchen, his fist clenched in obvious frustration. "I'm guessing that's why he wasn't here tonight," she surmised. She refused to feel bad that in addition to their argument, her presence at dinner had also meant Daryl couldn't attended as he was duty bound to guard his brother.

"We argued," Rick admitted, stopping in his trek across the kitchen, raking his hand through his hair. " He thinks it's his duty to be his brother's keeper".

Michonne wiped her hands on the rag and turned fully to face Rick, her arms crossed at her chest. "I don't know what's Merle's angle but I don't need to tell you that if you let Daryl go with him, he will be walking towards his probable death."

It didn't add up, why would Merle want to go back to Woodbury? Michonne assumed that someone had wanted him gone and to stay gone, they had even shot him to deter him from returning. Martinez- although almost as corrupt as the Governor had been- had let her escape the night she killed the Governor. She wondered if he'd been the one to exile him.

"Fuck! What do you think we should do?" Rick asked.

Before Michonne could respond, they both froze at the sound of gunfire.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** I kind of forgot that Merle lost a limb in canon, I was too far gone into the chapter and mentally exhausted to fix it. Enjoy.

 **Chapter 12**

The relatively peaceful and harmonious atmosphere that had been present moments ago was disturbed by the raucous sound of gunfire. Michonne barely heard the cacophony that erupted inside the house as she stood motionless by the sink. Adrenaline caused her heart to beat faster and her other senses seemed to dull for a second, making it appear as if the people around her were moving in slow motion. As if through a fog, she saw Rick talking to Carl, most likely issuing orders that were immediately followed, it was that frantic movement that propelled her out of her frozen state. Her feet barely touched the ground as she ran out of the house and narrowly avoided missing the last staircase and landing on her ass. She hit the pavement running, her gut churning with dread.

When she caught up to Rick, she spied the look of anger and determination on his face and it fueled her growing trepidation. Several people were making their way up the road and among them, her friends whom she'd seen not so long ago. As soon as they went past the armory and infirmary, Michonne heard a familiar, loud and grating voice demanding that they all disarm and return to their homes. They came to a standstill a distance away but no one dared to relinquish their weapons.

Michonne slinked her way to the peripheral edges of the crowd and remained hidden in the shadows, out of Merle's direct line of sight, instinctively knowing the situation would escalate if he caught sight of her.

"What do you think you're doing?" demanded Rick.

At the sound of Rick's voice, Daryl who had been heading towards a pick-up truck stopped in his tracks. The crossbow slackened in his grip causing it to slide down his back as he turned to face Rick and the rest of the community that had gathered but made no effort to explain their current situation. The issue being how Merle got his hands on a knife and a gun, let alone, why Jessie was being held hostage. Daryl stared at the ground as if it held all the answers as to why there was a truck loaded with supplies from their pantry and armory.

Michonne glared at Daryl, disgusted by his cowardly behavior and that even now, when it was apparent that there was nothing humane about his brother, he was still helping him. To think, she had saved him from certain death a few months ago when he was nothing more than a stranger. Twice now, he had raised his hands to help his brother and one of those instances, even threatened to kill her. Unbidden, a sense of betrayal gnawed at her heart and whatever little sympathy she felt for him- being caught between the family he'd made along the way and his own flesh and blood- died a swift death.

Michonne shook her head, trying to dispel her train of thought as it would inevitably question Rick's own culpability in the situation. Instead, she tried to think of a viable solution because if it came down to it, no way would she let Merle walk out of Alexandria, alive. Suddenly, she turned her head sharply to look at the watch tower where she could make out from the outline of the body-build that Spencer's was in the booth, his gun pointed at the scene below. Michonne groaned softly in disbelief, the fact that Merle was still alive was clear indication that Spencer didn't have the balls to do it. Hearing Jessie her cry out, she looked back in time to see her being manhandled by Merle into moving backwards, taking a step closer to their escape car.

"I don't want any trouble. Let us go and you can pick this pretty little thing, where you found me," Merle bargained. His eyes narrowed as he bared his teeth at them, a cruel smile gracing his lips. "But if I see anyone following us, you won't like what I do with her." He pressed the blade into Jessie's neck, making the frightened woman whimper when it cut into her skin.

"Merle," growled Daryl.

"Get in the car if you know what's good for you, little brother."

She watched Merle continue to shorten the distance between himself and the car, dragging the sniffling woman with him as he went. Michonne gritted her teeth, hands tightening around the handle of her katana helplessly, having left her gun at home before heading out to the dinner.

"Daryl, you don't have to do this." Carol who stood next to Rick spoke up for the first time, she took a step in the direction of the car, only to stop abruptly when the gun was pointed in her direction.

"Lady, you need to shut up and-" began Merle, no longer moving to focus on Carol.

Carol raised her chin at him. "You don't owe him, anything!" burst out Carol, heedlessly. The lack of movement from the car where Daryl now sat behind the wheel seemed to push Carol over the edge and she raised her gun unflinchingly at Merle.

"Uh-huh, wrong choice. Control your people, Officer Friendly, or else this one ain't gon' make it." He used the barrel of the gun to part Jessie's blonde hair. "Speaking of people who ain't gon' make it, where is my Nubian queen?"

Rick swiftly aimed his gun at Merle's head.

Others seeing this, followed suit which distracted Merle as he began yelling insults, there was a wild look in his eyes that indicated how fast the situation was about to deteriorate. Seeing the opening that Carol and Rick had unwittingly, she easily disarmed the brown-haired, stocky man that stood next to her. Her movements were sharp and precise, giving him no opportunity to tighten the lax hold he had on the Uzi pistol in his hand. In the next moment, her heart in her mouth, she flitted along the edges until she slipped undetected behind the shrubbery. She could barely breathe for fear of being detected, not to mention, all the noise she was making along the dirt pathway until she was a short distance away from her quarry.

Michonne peered around the foliage and saw Rick slowly approaching Merle as he tried to bargain with him. Unfortunately, Merle issued his first real warning that he wasn't afraid to spill blood when he shot at the crowd. The chaos that ensued and screams of pain that broke into the night, made it difficult to stifle the urge to jump into the fray. A door banging open alerted her to the fact that Daryl had finally left the confines of the car as he burst on to the scene.

"What the hell Merle, we had a fuckin' agreement," yelled Daryl, his crossbow leveled at his brother.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" hollered Merle, his movements frantic as he dragged a struggling Jessie by her hair.

Michonne's hands shook, acutely aware that her window of opportunity was about to slip from her fingers. In a flurry of movement, she emerged from her hiding spot and charged at Merle with enough strength to knock him off his feet causing him to land on top Jessie who tried to crawl away. Just as she pointed her gun at him, a vicious yank on her arm had her locking eyes with Daryl, he tried to wrestle the gun from her and Michonne grunted with effort as she fought off his attempts. In the struggle, another shot was fired halting their movements and they stared at each other with wide eyes, both realizing that it had gone off behind them.

Rick stood above the prone figure at his feet, unloading another bullet into his skull and kept on firing until there was nothing left to empty. The heavy silence that followed, was reminiscent of the first time she met him, only this time, the blood flowed at his feet instead.

Michonne walked toward him, transfixed by the sight of Merle who lay motionless on the ground, finding it hard to believe that it was over until she came to stand over him and saw the copious amount of blood seeping out of him. A sweaty palm clamped around her arm and she was forcibly pulled her away from the corpse. They didn't stop moving until they came to stand on the other side of the truck, away from prying eyes. Rick stood before her, his lips pressed into a thin line and his eyes shone with anger. He pried the weapon from her grip with his other hand and laid it down on a seat inside the truck (through the open window) all the while, glaring at her.

"What were you thinking?" he asked, incredulity ringing loud and clear in his voice. "That was fucking reckless."

Michonne reeled back in disbelief that quickly turned into anger, recalling with great clarity that Merle had shot at him. _How could he be so blind to his own actions,_ she wondered.

"Reckless?" The word rang sharply into the air. "I'm not the one who tried to bargain with a sociopath and thought approaching him would be a good idea, and you almost got killed for it!" she carried on in a scathing tone, ignoring the warning gleam in his eyes that intensified at her words.

Rick's head tilted in that dangerous it always did when he was pissed. "In case you missed it," he said, mockingly. "I was trying to avoid a blood bath that would have taken out not only Daryl but could have caused him to open fire on us."

Michonne laughed humorlessly as she tried to pull her arm free but gave up when he held on tightly. "And you were so concerned about a man who could so easily betray you? Betray what you've tried to build here and putting the people you love at risk?"

Rick let go of her as if her words burned him and drew back, frowning. "Don't you think I know that, he's like a brother to me and his actions put you in danger. It's all I can do not to-" He stopped talking abruptly, a tick visible in his jaw.

The words that he couldn't say and the raw emotion in his voice clued her in to his inner turmoil, leaving her momentarily, speechless. To her horror, she felt the tell-tale pinprick of tears welling in her eyes. "You protected me tonight when Daryl intercepted me, Merle could have gotten up and taken advantage of me being distracted," she disclosed, it hadn't occurred to her then (so focused on her goal as she was) how things could have turned out disastrously. "But, you once told me that you were on my side, do you remember that? But it never felt like you were when it came to this. Part of me, at least for a moment, thought you were still punishing me for hiding things from you."

He gaped at her. "God no!" he said, shock evident in the tone of his voice. "I meant what I said, I-"

She gestured with her hand to forestall his protest. "No, I know we talked about that and I'm not bring it up again to hurt you. It's just that when you say something like that, your choices, your actions also hurt me." The apocalypse had taught her to always rely on herself, fighting was now a part of her, it was hard to just…stop. A sob escaped her lips, she felt shaken to her core and unable to hide how she was unraveling, she made to walk away but he wouldn't let her. His warm but firm hand landed on her shoulder and turned her back to face him.

His hand glided off her shoulder to her face, his thumb pressed softly against her smooth skin as it brushed at the curve of her cheek slowly. "I'm sorry…I am so sorry."

Michonne swallowed against the painful lump in her throat, she closed her eyes at the imploring tone in his voice and the way he was touching her. It had not escaped her notice how much of tactile person he was that she found herself leaning into his body, her arms going around him.

* * *

Although caught off guard by the unexpectedness of her actions, he did not hesitate in returning the hug. With one arm curved around her waist and the other caressing her head, he held on tightly. It hit him suddenly, how long it had been since he let his guard down for something like this, the last woman he'd even remotely embraced this way had been Lori. Rick shuddered as a wave of relief rolled over him, his mind only now accepting that she was at least physically unharmed. Psychologically and emotionally, she was far from alright and it grieved him to know that he was partially responsible. Because the more he got to know her, he found that underneath all that armor and no-nonsense attitude, she really wore her heart on her sleeve, she was smart, caring and could be funny when she wanted to be.

Before everything had gone to shit, when he had approached her that morning to invite her to dinner, he'd sensed that the awkwardness from the previous night lingered on in the way she tried to avoid him. Panic had filled him the longer she continued to refuse his invitation but he was just as stubborn and his persistence had paid off. Dinner had been perfect despite the rift between him and Daryl. Even Michonne's obvious reluctance to bond with Judith wasn't enough to dampen his mood. They had talked and teased each other almost like old friends in the kitchen as they washed up after dinner. Of course, the thorny subject of Merle had come up and as it stood now, everything had come full circle.

Rick felt her starting to withdraw from his embrace and reluctantly let her go. Michonne didn't make any eye contact as she walked around him, he turned in time to see her reaching into the truck and retrieving her gun.

"I'll grab some people to check the perimeter to make sure we don't have any visitors," she said, her voice steady.

The look on her face told him the moment had passed and her walls were up again.

"Are you sure?" he asked, concerned that she was not be in the right frame of mind, especially if she was going out there.

"I'm okay. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye," he said softly, watching her retreating back thoughtfully, hoping that her inclination to avoid him whenever they shared vaguely intimate moments wouldn't kick in when tomorrow came. Realizing that he couldn't stand there the whole night, he followed her example and went to deal with his responsibilities. The first problem he tackled was removing Spencer from the watch tower, he felt no qualms in telling him how useless, he found him and to never step foot in the structure again. He later bumped into Sasha on his way to the infirmary where Daryl was being kept under guard. She carried a rifle with her, informing him that Michonne had already approached her to take over from Spencer. Rick couldn't help the smirk that grew on his face at how much they thought alike.

Abe greeted him with a disgruntled look on his face when he got inside the infirmary. Carol, on the other hand, continued to talk to Daryl quietly but stopped when he didn't appear to be listening to her anymore. Although Carol seemed reluctantly to leave, she left without putting up much of a fight.

Rick had not allowed himself to completely dwell on the role Daryl had played in all this, but Michonne had intuitively known how he truly felt. Betrayed. Furious, he cleared the distance between them and aimed for his abdomen. The impact of fist connecting made Daryl grunt as he doubled over. He threw another punch to the side of his face that caused him to fall to the ground and left him lying on his side.

"Get up," demanded Rick, through clenched teeth, pacing before him. He kept an eye on him, watching apathetically as he staggered to his feet. Daryl's face was turning red and an ugly bruise was beginning to form on his face. He was barely standing when Rick landed another blow on him, there was a satisfying crunching sound of his nose breaking. He staggered backwards, but he grabbed onto the railing of a nearby bed, breaking his fall.

"What the fuck were you thinking?" he fumed, barely resisting the urge to strike him again. "You put everyone in danger and it's fortunate that none of _our_ people got hurt. But why, you did all of that for what? To help Merle run off with our supplies?"

"Jessie and Tobin are our people too," Daryl told him in an indignant toned he righted himself slowly. His hand visibly trembled when he wiped the blood now dripping from his nose. "It wasn't supposed to go down like that," he added weakly, "I should have known not to trust him." He sat down heavily on the edge of a bed and the bed-springs groaned in protest. Using a rag, he pulled out of his back pocket, he held it to his nose.

Rick looked at him skeptically, was he really trying to make _him_ feel guilty for not caring? The muscles in his face tightened as he watched the hunched figure sitting on the bed hiding behind a curtain of dark hair. "What was the plan then?"

Daryl removed the rag away from his nose. "What happened today is on me, I know that, " Daryl said gruffly, finally making eye contact. "He wanted us to go back to Woodbury to take over, I wasn't going to do that but he kept on saying all this shit about Michonne and I knew he couldn't stay here no more. I wanted to tell you but I knew you would lose it and when I even brought up me going with him to Woodbury, we argued. Anyway, Jessie caught us, he tried to shoot her but I stopped him in time. But because of the gunshot, he knew people were gon' show up, so he decided to use her instead."

In disbelief, Rick followed suit and sunk down on the next bed over, rubbing a hand across his forehead. "Why didn't you end it then?"

"I wanted to but there was a risk of hurting Jessie and then everyone else showed up. But when I heard the gun going off, I thought…" Daryl sprang to his feet and started pacing in front of Rick, pulling at his hair. "I was so blinded by my own feelings that I forgot what he was like, that he could be a danger to anyone who crossed his him." His pacing ceased. "I had to get him out of here before anyone else got hurt because of me. I'd do what needed to be done."

Rick glared at him. "And after everything that's what mattered, killing him on your own terms?"

He wondered if everything that had happened since bringing Merle here, could have been avoided if he had not intervened _that_ day. How could he have overlooked all that Michonne had shared with him, with all of them, to protect a non-existent relationship between the brothers. Disgusted with himself, he stood to leave, unable to continue sitting there and play the blame game. He froze at the exit when a hoarse voice spoke behind him.

"What… what's gon' happen now?" asked Daryl, his body half-turned away.

"I don't know yet," Rick said honestly. Once again feeling the pressure of being a leader in this delicate situation. Would he have to banish him as he did Carol? "We've been through a lot together, you and I, we are brothers but your actions tonight need to have consequences. A decision will be made tomorrow." He turned to leave again but paused with his hand on the door knob. "It goes without saying that I'm trusting you to stay here, don't betray that trust again," he said in a hard voice.

It was way past midnight by the time he got home, having also done his own security sweep after leaving the infirmary. Going through the motions of checking on his family before returning home, he had also felt obligated to check on Tobin and Jessie, both having opted to convalesce at their own homes. There was no doubt about whom, Jessie held accountable for her ordeal. There had been tears and mentions of Pete that left him feeling numb and questioning what had possessed him to even approach her considering how well their last encounter ago had gone. The beginnings of a headache throbbing at his temples did not help the exhaustion he felt and seeing Carl waiting for him on the porch did not help his mood either.

"I told you to wait inside with your sister," Rick said, feeling exasperated. Carl relayed that Glenn had showed up not long ago to check on them and to inform them that the situation had been taken care of. Rick eyed him with thinly veiled amusement when he stood up from the steps and showed him a sleeping Judith on the baby monitor. "I see," he chuckled wearily as he ruffled his son's hair affectionately "let's go in then and I'll fill you in."

Rick held the door open and let Carl walk past him, he paused mid-step before entering his domain to glance down the road in the direction of _her_ house, wondering if she was already in bed and if she would get any rest tonight. Thinking that he should also try to get some rest whilst he could, he made his way inside, determined not to dwell on the issues that remained unresolved until the morning.

* * *

"So, how did it go?"

Michonne glanced in Sasha's direction unable to hide the bewilderment she felt. "It went well, better than I expected. He actually sounded…grateful?"

"Why do you sound so surprised then?" asked Sasha, sounding just as confused. "Some of them aren't that bad."

Michonne gave her a look as if to say, _come on, be real_. "True but other than a handful of people and that is excluding you guys, the rest of the community hasn't been all that welcoming and I have been here for months. Tobin wasn't even angry that I took his gun and left him unprotected, said it wasn't going to protect him anyway and that I needed it more that he did because I had actually been doing something to help protect everyone."

Sasha didn't immediately answer as she handed the rifle back to her, as instructed, Michonne adjusted her stance on top of the broken-down car they'd been standing on for the past half-an-hour.

"I think, we are all still struggling to find our place here," confessed Sasha, somberly.

They exchanged a loaded glance.

Michonne shut one eye as she looked through the scope with the other, fixing her vision on the lone walker making its way towards them in the distance and took aim. The first bullet went through its neck, tearing off a chunk of deadened flesh, her third attempt hit the mark and it dropped to the ground.

Michonne pursed her lips, not pleased that it had taken so many attempts. "I suppose that was an improvement from yesterday."

"Definitely," agreed Sasha, "look at it this way, this is just day two and you are doing way better than Spencer did when I was teaching him all the good it did him though. Chocked like a little bitch when it mattered the most," she muttered, scathingly. "I heard Rick made him cry."

Michonne's stomach dipped and soared all at once at the mention of his name, she worked to control her expression. "He didn't," she finally said with a nervous laugh, her mind drifting back to their encounter that morning. She'd been waiting for Tobin to open his door when he'd happened upon her, waiting.

888

" _Morning," he greeted, walking up to stand at the bottom of the staircase, eyeing her curiously. "What brings you here?"_

 _Approaching the stairs, she explained how she had thoughtlessly swiped his gun the night before, leaving him defenceless and she'd just found out that he'd been hurt._

" _You needed it and it wasn't fatal," he said dismissively, walking up a step._

 _Michonne pulled a face not all that shocked by his attitude, he'd made it very clear how he felt about the rest of the Alexandrians. To be honest, she felt the same way. Caring about other people only left a world of pain in its wake, she only had to think about her baby, Mike and Andrea. She had felt like she lost a bits and pieces of herself after her ordeal in Woodbury. Look at how she'd been prepared to leave Daryl and Aaron to their certain deaths at that complex. In saying that, there were people worth caring about and she said just as much to him._

 _Rick only nodded as he walked sedately another set of steps coming to stand a head shorter next before her, leaning against the railing. "I'm not here to argue with you," he stated._

" _I'm not being combative," she pointed out._

" _And I'm not antagonizing you either."_

 _They shared a smile at that both keenly aware that it reminded them of the day they made their pact and started to make the effort to get along. Michonne watched in interest as he wiped his palms against his dark jeans and a slight blush suffused his cheeks._

 _His eyes roamed over her face before meeting her gaze head-on. "I wanted to say this to you yesterday… I need to apologize for not doing what needed to be done. I'm sorry for making it look like I didn't care about what you went through and in choosing what I thought was Daryl's happiness, I protected Merle. No words can make up for that and I can only imagine what you have been going through, gods, I even came to you to exact an agreement out of you that you wouldn't kill him," he grimaced. "I have no right to ask this of you but I hope you won't hold my choices against me and," he paused._

 _Michonne darted her eyes up to his face having found it difficult to maintain eye contact as he spoke, his words and voice affecting her in a way she hadn't expected to be. Her face felt like it was on fire and the intensity in his blue eyes caused a delicious shiver to slide up her spine._

 _A door opening alerted them that they had an audience and it caused them jump apart. They both looked over to Tobin who appeared to be just as surprised to see them._

" _Uh…I thought someone knocked on the door?"_

 _888_

The sound of Sasha laughing jolted her back to the present.

"Yeah, he didn't cry though," she amended, "coz I'd have lost what little respect I have for him. Thinking about it now, I can't believe I ever thought he was your type. I see you being into guys like Rick, the take charge kind of guy or the soulful but still strong type, like Glenn."

Alarmed by her intuition, Michonne gathered her thoughts and tampered the urge to tell Sasha who was grinning at her what had happened that morning. To ask her what she thought Rick might have wanted to tell her because her mind was flitting through different scenarios. Instead, she teased he. "I'll be sure to tell Maggie you said that. And we really should be trying to set you up, I'm sure Spencer is up for a challenge."

"Right," intoned Sasha, sarcastically. She squinted into the distance and then looked through the scope of her own rifle. "Incoming," she warned.

Michonne's focus returned to the job at hand, deciding that she would put her big girl pants on and talk to him when they returned to the community.


End file.
